7. Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST)
Short Interest as % of Shares Outstanding: 15.40%
Number of Hedge Fund Investors In Q3 2024: 24
Ark Invest’s Q3 2024 Stake: $242 million
Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) is an upstream genetic testing company. As compared to others that develop genetic testing products and drugs, the firm supplies raw materials to the industry. This exposes Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) to the fate of the genomics industry, which has recently been busy churning out treatments for sickle cell disease. Additionally, the business model also somewhat ‘de-risks’ Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) since its products are also used in other industries such as agriculture. The firm’s shares are up 51% year-to-date as it benefits from factors such as a robust fourth-quarter performance which saw revenue grow by 27% to $84.7 million. This overshot consensus analyst estimates of $82.2 million and investors were further impressed by Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST) being able to beat its gross margin guidance by posting 42.1%. The firm’s fiscal first-quarter revenue guidance of $87 million also surpassed analyst estimates of $85 million.
Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ:TWST)’s management commented on its robust performance during the Q4 2024 earnings call. Here is what they said:
“Trends over the quarter and the year came from our Express product portfolio and genes as a whole, alongside continued growth in our NGS tools portfolio. We are also seeing positive traction in biopharma. Overall, the business remains strong and we are confident that this momentum will carry us into fiscal 2025. Before we dive into the details of the quarter, it’s worthwhile reflecting on our journey since our IPO just over six years ago. During this time, we have been on a strong upward trajectory, growing our customer base, expanding our product portfolio and capturing market share, all by leveraging our proprietary platform to drive sustainable growth. Our differentiated technology to miniaturized chemistry and manufacture of DNA on silicon provide significant advantages for our customers and for Twist.
Our platform allows us to deliver high quality products at an affordable price and provide significant sustainability advantages over plate based approaches. Importantly, we offer custom synthesis at unmet scale, which enables a growing menu of products in different iterations geared for diversification. We have harnessed our innovation engine to strategically and judiciously expand our product portfolio. Today, with our base of more than 3,500 customers across multiple industries, hundreds of SKUs having a wide range of diversifications, increasing market share in multiple markets, we are operating with incredible execution and financial discipline. We are now in the final push towards an incredibly important milestone, crossing the threshold of adjusted EBITDA breakeven.”
