Twist Bioscience (TWST) Stock News Today: Forecasts, Analyst Targets, and Key Catalysts (Dec. 22, 2025)

Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ: TWST) is ending 2025 with something investors in “tools + genomics” names haven’t always been able to count on: momentum that’s tied to multiple moving pieces—new product launches, partner-driven workflow wins, and a profitability narrative that’s finally getting sharper edges.

On December 22, 2025, TWST shares were trading around $34.26, up about 5.4% on the session at the time of writing (midday U.S. trading). ^[1]

That pop isn’t happening in a vacuum. Over the past few weeks, the company has stacked up incremental catalysts—from a fresh licensing deal touching NGS and hot-start PCR, to product expansion in plasmid preparation, to continued integration with Element Biosciences’ AVITI ecosystem, and to a steady drumbeat of Street commentary and price-target tweaks.

Below is what’s driving the conversation around Twist Bioscience stock right now—plus the latest forecasts and analyst targets investors are using to frame risk and upside.

TWST stock price action on Dec. 22, 2025

As of midday on Dec. 22, TWST was up solidly, trading near $34.26 after opening around $33.54 and reaching an intraday high near $34.70. ^[2]

Zooming out a bit, MarketScreener data showed TWST down roughly 26% year-to-date even after the day’s jump—one reason the recent rally is attracting attention: it’s happening after a messy year, not after a clean one. ^[3]

Meanwhile, Investing.com listed a 52-week range of roughly $23.30 to $55.33, highlighting just how wide the market’s uncertainty band still is around the name. ^[4]

The most current TWST catalysts investors are watching

Think of Twist as a “biological manufacturing platform” company—its value proposition is less about a single drug and more about building the infrastructure that lets other people build drugs, diagnostics, and research workflows faster.

As of Dec. 22, 2025, the most relevant near-term storylines include:

1) Licensing deal connects Twist to hot-start PCR and NGS improvements

A notable December development came via Aptamer Group plc, which announced a licensing agreement with Twist Bioscience. Under the deal, Aptamer grants Twist a non-exclusive license to use an enzyme-modulating Optimer binder in hot-start PCR and next-generation sequencing (NGS) products (including future products), with Aptamer supplying the binder to Twist. ^[5]

The strategic subtext: hot-start PCR and NGS prep chemistry may look “unsexy,” but this is exactly the kind of incremental workflow advantage that can compound in tools businesses—less friction, fewer reagents, tighter performance, and better economics.

The same S&P Capital IQ-sourced write-up also points to the broader NGS demand backdrop, citing expectations that the NGS market could reach $23.6B by 2029 (with a 13.2% CAGR). ^[6]

2) Twist’s new plasmid preps push deeper into nucleic acid therapeutics workflows

On Dec. 4, 2025, Twist announced it launched new plasmid preparation products aimed at enabling nucleic acid therapeutics research (and generally expanding its prep/production toolkit). ^[7]

Plasmids matter because they’re a practical “workhorse” input across research and development—especially when the end customers are trying to move quickly from design to build to test. In the tools world, expanding the menu of upstream and downstream products can increase share-of-wallet and reduce customer churn.

3) Continued AVITI ecosystem wins with Element Biosciences

One of Twist’s clearer “platform synergy” plays in 2025 has been its collaboration with Element Biosciences.

In an Oct. 6, 2025 announcement, Twist and Element launched the Trinity Freestyle™ Fast Hybridization workflow for Element’s AVITI™ sequencing platforms, positioning it as an end-to-end workflow that can take researchers from sample to sequencer in as little as five hours. ^[8]

The release also describes a key workflow advantage: on-flow cell enrichment that removes steps like binding, washes, amplification, and pooling—plus a 1-hour hybridization step intended to replace overnight waits. ^[9]

This kind of integration can be meaningful for TWST because it ties Twist’s consumables and prep kits to a growing sequencing hardware ecosystem—an angle that can strengthen customer “stickiness” if adoption continues.

4) J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference appearance as a narrative catalyst

Twist also announced CEO Emily M. Leproust will present at the J.P. Morgan 2026 Healthcare Conference on Jan. 12, 2026 (San Francisco), with a webcast and replay available through investor relations channels. ^[10]

These conference appearances don’t change fundamentals overnight, but they often function as “expectations management events,” especially for companies trying to convince investors their margin story and growth story can coexist.

Financial forecast: Twist’s FY2026 guidance and what it implies

The most important “forecast” investors are anchoring to right now isn’t a mysterious quant model—it’s management’s own FY2026 framework coming out of fiscal Q4 results.

A widely cited Q4 FY2025 earnings summary notes:

Q4 FY2025 revenue:$99.0M, up 17% YoY
FY2025 revenue:$376.6M, up 20% YoY
Q4 gross margin:51.3% (vs ~45% prior year quarter in the same summary)
FY2026 revenue guidance:$425M–$435M
Q1 FY2026 revenue guidance:$100M–$101M
FY2026 gross margin outlook:>52%
Management narrative aiming to exit FY2026 at adjusted EBITDA breakeven ^[11]

Two details stand out for stock-watchers:

First, FY2026 revenue guidance implies continued growth, but the shape of that growth matters. The same summary references an NGS “air pocket” and a customer transition timing impact, with an expectation of improvement later in FY2026. ^[12]

Second, the margin and breakeven commentary is a big deal for how the market valuates TWST. Tools investors often tolerate near-term losses if they believe (a) gross margins are structurally strong and (b) operating leverage is real once growth re-accelerates. Twist is explicitly leaning into that framing with the “exit breakeven” target. ^[13]

Business mix: where Twist is finding growth

Twist is often described as synthetic biology + genomics infrastructure, but investors typically track the company through operating segments and end-market behavior.

The same Q4 FY2025 earnings summary breaks out:

SynBio:$39.5M in Q4 (+17% YoY)
NGS:$53.0M in Q4 (+16% YoY)
Biopharma:$6.4M in Q4 (+22% YoY) ^[14]

It also notes a segment reporting evolution: management’s messaging increasingly groups parts of the business into “DNA synthesis and protein solutions,” reflecting how customers increasingly buy “workflow outcomes” rather than isolated SKUs. ^[15]

That shift matters because it’s not just accounting—companies reorganize segments when they’re trying to:

tell a clearer story,
highlight a higher-quality revenue stream, or
show the market how cross-selling is working.

Analyst forecasts and price targets for TWST stock

Here’s where the “forecast” conversation becomes more market-facing: analyst ratings and targets.

Current consensus targets

Investing.com’s consensus view (as displayed on Dec. 22) shows:

8 analysts in the consensus set
Average target price:$35.88
High estimate:$42
Low estimate:$32 ^[16]

At roughly $34–$35 per share today, that implies the Street (on average) sees modest upside, not a moonshot—though the target range shows disagreement.

Barclays: still constructive, but actively tuning the model

Barclays has been actively adjusting its TWST target while keeping a positive stance:

Nov. 17, 2025: target cut to $37 from $40, rating maintained (Overweight / Buy framing depending on feed) ^[17]
Dec. 15, 2025: target raised to $39 from $37, rating maintained ^[18]

That pattern usually signals: “we still like the direction, but we’re recalibrating the slope.” In tools land, that often comes down to assumptions about (1) how fast growth re-accelerates and (2) how durable gross margin gains are.

Stephens initiation: Overweight view tied to cost leadership and NGS upside

Stephens initiated coverage with an Overweight and a $41 target, citing Twist’s cost leadership and market share gains, while also pointing to NGS growth potential (including liquid biopsy / MRD-related adoption themes) and a line of sight toward adjusted EBITDA breakeven by end of FY2026. ^[19]

The “why” behind TWST: the bull case in plain English

If you want the bullish thesis without the fog machine:

Twist’s core bet is scale. DNA is becoming more like software—designed, iterated, and deployed faster every year. Twist sells the picks-and-shovels that make that iteration loop cheaper and quicker.

The bull case typically rests on a few pillars (and you can see echoes of these in management commentary and analyst notes):

Structural gross margin improvement
Moving from “growth at any cost” to “growth with margin discipline” is the classic tools-company maturation path. Twist’s >52% gross margin outlook for FY2026 is meant to signal that manufacturing scale and process efficiency are becoming a durable advantage. ^[20]
Workflow stickiness and ecosystem partnerships
The Element AVITI + Trinity Freestyle workflow story is a good example: if Twist becomes “the easy button” inside a growing sequencing platform, it can lock in recurring consumables revenue. ^[21]
NGS market expansion + chemistry improvements
The Aptamer licensing deal is small in headline terms, but it’s the kind of chemistry edge that can matter at scale in PCR and NGS. ^[22]
A clearer profitability milestone
“Exit FY2026 adjusted EBITDA breakeven” is the kind of milestone that can change what category of investor is willing to own the stock. ^[23]

The bear case: what can still go wrong (and often does in tools stocks)

Now for the sober side—because biology is amazing, but markets are feral.

Key risk factors investors are watching:

Near-term growth lumpiness, especially in NGS

Even supportive summaries of the quarter note a temporary customer transition affecting gross margin and a softer near-term trajectory before improvements later in FY2026. ^[24]

In tools names, “temporary” can last longer than anyone hopes if a major customer delays a ramp, changes vendors, or shifts workflows.

Competitive pressure is real

DNA synthesis, library prep, and sequencing-adjacent workflows are crowded. Twist’s differentiation is often framed as cost, scale, and quality—but competitors don’t stand still, and pricing pressure is a chronic feature of tools markets.

Profitability timing risk

“Exit breakeven” targets are meaningful—but they’re also fragile. A few points of margin compression or a quarter of slower growth can push that milestone out, and the stock often reprices quickly when timelines slip. ^[25]

Macro sensitivity (biotech funding cycles)

Even if Twist executes perfectly, demand from biotech and pharma customers can slow when capital tightens. Tools stocks can feel that shift early because they sit upstream of R&D pipelines.

What to watch next for Twist Bioscience stock

If you’re tracking TWST into early 2026, these are the practical, calendar-level things that can move the narrative:

J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference (Jan. 12, 2026): investors will watch for updated tone on FY2026 growth shape, margin durability, and any notable customer demand signals. ^[26]
Execution on NGS re-acceleration: management’s implied “better later” setup needs to show up in numbers through FY2026. ^[27]
Adoption signals from workflow products: Trinity Freestyle + AVITI integrations and continued product expansion (like plasmid preps) matter most if they translate into sustained order growth and repeatability. ^[28]
Analyst revisions: as models update into 2026, target prices will swing with assumptions on growth and operating leverage (Barclays’ recent adjustments are a good example). ^[29]

Bottom line on TWST stock on Dec. 22, 2025

Twist Bioscience is trading higher today, but the deeper story is broader: the company is trying to graduate from “promising platform” to “scaled platform with credible profitability timing.”

As of Dec. 22, 2025, the market is balancing:

Real catalysts (licensing deal, new products, deeper sequencing ecosystem integration) ^[30]
A defined FY2026 forecast framework (revenue $425M–$435M; GM >52%; exit EBITDA breakeven narrative) ^[31]
Analyst expectations that are constructive but not euphoric (consensus target near $35.88 with a $32–$42 range) ^[32]

If Twist can deliver steadier NGS execution while holding margin gains, the stock has a path to re-rating. If growth stays lumpy or breakeven drifts, TWST can snap back—because it’s still a volatility-prone name living at the intersection of cutting-edge biology and very impatient capital.