Twist Bioscience Director Sells Shares for Profit
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: 4 days ago
0mins
Source: NASDAQ.COM
- Options Exercise: Jan Johannessen exercised 12,000 stock options and sold them on May 12, 2026, for approximately $673,000, indicating his confidence in the company's future prospects.
- Profit Analysis: Johannessen exercised the options at $14 per share while the market price was $56.12, resulting in substantial profits that highlight the stock's potential value.
- Market Reaction: Although Twist Bioscience's second-quarter earnings missed estimates and reported negative net income, its growth potential in synthetic biology and genomics continues to attract investor interest.
- Investor Advisory: Analysts have mixed views on Twist's stock; while its price reflects market confidence, the Motley Fool analyst team did not include it in their current top investment stocks, advising investors to proceed with caution.
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Analyst Views on TWST
Wall Street analysts forecast TWST stock price to fall
5 Analyst Rating
5 Buy
0 Hold
0 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 84.950
Low
39.00
Averages
41.25
High
43.00
Current: 84.950
Low
39.00
Averages
41.25
High
43.00
About TWST
Twist Bioscience Corporation provides customizable solutions across the biological continuum that enable scientific discovery and development across therapeutics, diagnostics, and other high-growth markets. The Company's proprietary silicon-based platform delivers precision, scale, and speed, supporting consistent, high-quality performance across a range of applications. The Company’s platform is a differentiated method of manufacturing synthetic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) by writing DNA on a silicon chip. By integrating proprietary hardware, software, and scalable infrastructure, including its e-commerce platform. The Company has extended this platform beyond DNA synthesis to offer an integrated portfolio that includes synthetic genes, next-generation sequencing, applications, sample preparation tools, antibody libraries, and biologic discovery services. Leveraging the same platform, it also manufactures synthetic ribonucleic acid (RNA) and expresses antibody proteins.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
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Twist Bioscience Director Sells 12,000 Shares for $673K
- Transaction Overview: Jan Johannessen, a director at Twist Bioscience, sold 12,000 shares of common stock for approximately $673,440, indicating confidence in liquidity while still holding 17,754 shares valued at around $993,336 post-transaction.
- Equity Change Analysis: The sale of 12,000 shares is significantly larger than the 7,044 shares sold in November 2025, reflecting a larger option exercise and suggesting continued confidence in the company's future prospects.
- Market Context: The transaction was executed at a weighted average price of $56.12 per share, with the stock closing at $55.95 on the transaction date, and shares have appreciated by 58.97% over the past year, indicating strong market confidence in Twist Bioscience.
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Twist Bioscience Director Sells Shares for Profit
- Options Exercise: Jan Johannessen exercised 12,000 stock options and sold them on May 12, 2026, for approximately $673,000, indicating his confidence in the company's future prospects.
- Profit Analysis: Johannessen exercised the options at $14 per share while the market price was $56.12, resulting in substantial profits that highlight the stock's potential value.
- Market Reaction: Although Twist Bioscience's second-quarter earnings missed estimates and reported negative net income, its growth potential in synthetic biology and genomics continues to attract investor interest.
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See More
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- ARK Investment Strategy: On the IPO day, ARK Invest acquired 3.29 million shares of SpaceX across four ETFs, with ARKX holding 6.89% of its assets in SpaceX, highlighting the firm's strong commitment to this investment.
- Positive Market Reaction: SpaceX's stock rose over 3% in after-hours trading, while retail sentiment on Stocktwits remained in the 'extremely bullish' zone, reflecting optimistic expectations from investors regarding its future performance.
- Asset Allocation Adjustment: Alongside increasing its SpaceX holdings, ARK also trimmed its position in Rocket Lab, indicating a strategic shift in its aerospace investments aimed at optimizing its portfolio and focusing resources on more promising companies.
See More
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- Transaction Overview: Jan Johannessen, a director at Twist Bioscience, sold 12,000 shares of common stock for approximately $673,440, indicating confidence in liquidity while still holding 17,754 shares valued at around $993,336 post-transaction.
- Equity Change Analysis: The sale of 12,000 shares is significantly larger than the 7,044 shares sold in November 2025, reflecting a larger option exercise and suggesting continued confidence in the company's future prospects.
- Market Context: The transaction was executed at a weighted average price of $56.12 per share, with the stock closing at $55.95 on the transaction date, and shares have appreciated by 58.97% over the past year, indicating strong market confidence in Twist Bioscience.
- Investor Outlook: Despite missing earnings estimates in Q2 FY 2026 and reporting negative net income, Twist's growth potential in synthetic biology continues to attract long-term investors, especially given the ongoing strong demand in the biotech sector.
See More
Twist Bioscience Director Sells Shares for Profit
- Options Exercise: Jan Johannessen exercised 12,000 stock options and sold them on May 12, 2026, for approximately $673,000, indicating his confidence in the company's future prospects.
- Profit Analysis: Johannessen exercised the options at $14 per share while the market price was $56.12, resulting in substantial profits that highlight the stock's potential value.
- Market Reaction: Although Twist Bioscience's second-quarter earnings missed estimates and reported negative net income, its growth potential in synthetic biology and genomics continues to attract investor interest.
- Investor Advisory: Analysts have mixed views on Twist's stock; while its price reflects market confidence, the Motley Fool analyst team did not include it in their current top investment stocks, advising investors to proceed with caution.
See More
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- Massive Selloff: ARK Investment Management offloaded approximately $222.87 million in shares on Thursday, with the largest transaction being $76.6 million in Teradyne stock, indicating a strategic shift ahead of the SpaceX IPO.
- Diverse Divestments: In addition to Teradyne, ARK sold shares in Twist Bioscience, Iridium Communications, and Robinhood Markets, totaling $64.2 million, reflecting a portfolio optimization strategy across multiple companies.
- SpaceX IPO Outlook: Priced at $135 per share with a staggering $1.77 trillion valuation, SpaceX's IPO is one of the most anticipated events on Wall Street, and while ARK's selloff may be related, the exact funding intentions remain unconfirmed.
- Retail Investor Sentiment: On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around the SPCX ticker has remained in 'extremely bullish' territory over the past week, with a 663% surge in chatter over the last 24 hours, indicating strong market interest in the upcoming IPO.
See More
Twist Bioscience Receives Overweight Rating from Piper Sandler
- Signs of Market Recovery: Analyst David Westenberg noted that the life sciences tools sector is beginning to show signs of recovery after three years of headwinds, particularly as funding pressures in academic and government segments ease, with expectations for fundamental normalization in 2026 and 2027, although a return to 10% earnings growth will take time.
- Twist Bioscience Stands Out: Among the stocks covered by Piper Sandler in the life sciences tools sector, Twist Bioscience (TWST) is the only one to receive an Overweight rating due to its unique positioning in next-gen drug discovery and development, with the analyst suggesting it could represent a pure investment opportunity in the life sciences sector.
- Price Target Setting: Westenberg set specific price targets for several major tools stocks, including $150 for Agilent (A), $200 for Danaher (DHR), and $85 for Twist Bio (TWST), reflecting market confidence in the future growth potential of these companies.
- Investor Strategy Recommendation: Despite the optimistic outlook for TWST, the analyst advises investors to adopt a wait-and-see approach over the next few quarters to allow the sector to recover to pre-COVID performance levels, thereby better positioning themselves to capitalize on multi-year growth compounding opportunities.
See More
