Practice Caution with This Hot Stock Up 493% in the Past Year

• Twist Bioscience (TWST) has surged 493% over 52 weeks, maintaining strong technical momentum.
• Shares just hit a new all-time high and has a 100% “Buy” technical opinion.
• However, its RSI of 72.95 and high short interest signal potential overextension.
• Consensus price targets are well below current levels, suggesting limited upside.

Today’s Featured Stock

Valued at $10.47 billion, Twist Bioscience (TWST) is a biotechnology company. It offers synthetic DNA-based products, including synthetic genes, tools for sample preparation, antibody libraries for drug discovery and development, and DNA as a digital data storage medium.  

What I’m Watching

I found today’s Chart of the Day by using Barchart’s powerful screening functions to sort for stocks with the highest technical buy signals and superior current momentum. I then used Barchart’s Flipcharts feature to review the charts for consistent price appreciation. TWST checks those boxes. The Trend Seeker issued a new “Buy” signal on Aug. 3. The stock has gained 63.84% since that signal.

Barchart’s Technical Indicators for Twist Bioscience

Editor’s Note: The technical indicators below are updated live during the session every 20 minutes and can therefore change each day as the market fluctuates. The indicator numbers shown below therefore may not match what you see live on the Barchart.com website when you read this report. These technical indicators form the Barchart Opinion on a particular stock.

Twist scored an all-time high of $170. 23 on Sept. 21.

• Twist has a Weighted Alpha of 418.36.
• TWST has a 100% “Buy” opinion from Barchart.
• The stock has gained 493.58% over the past 52 weeks.
• Twist has its Trend Seeker “Buy” signal intact.
• The stock recently traded at $165.78 with a 50-day moving average of $119.81.
• TWST had 6 highs and gained 13.71% in the last month.
• 60-month beta of 2.22.
• Relative Strength Index (RSI) is at 71.67.
• There’s a technical support level around $159.75.

Don’t Forget the Fundamentals

• $10.47 billion market capitalization.
• Revenue is projected to grow 21.19% this year but be down by 18.41% next year.
• Earnings are estimated to increase by 71.648% this year but decrease slightly by 5.42% next year.

Analyst and Investor Sentiment on Twist Bioscience

• The Wall Street analysts followed by Barchart give the stock 9 “Strong Buy,” 3 “Hold,” and 1 “Strong Sell” opinion with price targets from $45 to $160.
• Value Line rates the stock “Above Average.”
• Morningstar thinks the stock is 28% overvalued with a fair value of $130.12.
• CFRA’s MarketScope rates the stock as “Hold.”
• 12,960 investors are following the stock on Seeking Alpha, which rates it a “Hold.”
• TipRanks’ analysts’ price target is $113.50.
• Short interest is a very high 19.24% of the float with 6.91 days to cover the float.

The Bottom Line on Twist Bioscience

Sometimes a stock gets a little ahead of its skis.  The stock has analysts’ attention, and if you are already holding it, put a stop loss on it and continue to enjoy the ride. If you don’t have it, I think this is not a good entry point. Note the high short interest and the lone “Strong Sell” call with analysts’ price target consensus of $113.50.

Additional disclosure: The Barchart Chart of the Day highlights stocks that are experiencing exceptional current price appreciation. They are not intended to be buy recommendations as these stocks are extremely volatile and speculative. Should you decide to add one of these stocks to your investment portfolio, it is highly suggested you follow a predetermined diversification and moving stop loss discipline that is consistent with your personal investment risk tolerance. 

On the date of publication, Jim Van Meerten did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.