Twist Bioscience Shares Hit New 52-Week High

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ: TWST), which makes synthetic DNA products for drug discovery, diagnostics and other research uses, saw its shares surge 16.09% on Thursday. The South San Francisco-based company is now up roughly 40% in under two weeks.

Shares closed at $184.03, up from $158.50 the previous session, after touching an intraday high of $185.22, a new 52-week high. Volume of around 2.77 million shares was in line with the recent five-day average of about 2.6 million.

The rally traces back to the 16th of September, when Twist confirmed a data-services partnership with Eli Lilly’s AI drug-discovery platform, TuneLab.

Under the deal, Twist supplies antibody characterisation and other wet-lab data to Lilly’s AI models, including AbLab, though neither side disclosed a contract value or minimum purchase commitment.

The move has been driven largely by momentum rather than confirmed fundamentals. Shares have climbed roughly 40% in under two weeks to Thursday’s $184 close, now well above the consensus 12-month analyst price target of $109.58, set across six Strong Buy, three Buy, two Hold and one Sell ratings.

Short interest is elevated at an estimated 18% to 23% of the free float, adding fuel for sharp moves either way. Twist remains loss-making, and its roughly $10.5bn market cap rests heavily on the AI drug-discovery thesis rather than disclosed contract economics.

With shares trading well above where most analysts see fair value and short interest already elevated, a reversal could be as sharp as this week’s rally if the AI drug-discovery narrative around Twist cools.