Twist Bioscience Q1 Earnings Call Highlights

02 Feb 2026, 17:52 by Mitch Edgeman · The Markets Daily

Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST) reported fiscal 2026 first-quarter results that management said extended a multi-year trend of consistent execution, highlighting its 12th consecutive quarter of revenue growth and continued progress toward profitability. On the company’s earnings call, executives emphasized accelerating demand tied to AI-enabled discovery, improving manufacturing economics, and increased investment in commercial and digital capabilities while reiterating a target of adjusted EBITDA break-even in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026.

Quarterly results show revenue growth and gross margin above 50%

CFO Adam Laponis said first-quarter revenue rose to $103.7 million, representing 17% year-over-year growth and about 5% sequential growth. Gross margin was 52.0%, which Laponis said came in higher than expected and reflected revenue growth and continuous process improvements. Operating expenses excluding cost of revenues were $86.9 million, up from $77.5 million in the year-ago period, driven by investments in commercial groups and digital capabilities.

Adjusted EBITDA was a loss of approximately $13.4 million, an improvement of about $2.8 million versus the prior-year quarter. Net cash used in operating activities was $24.8 million, capital expenditures were $10 million, and the company ended the quarter with $197.9 million in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments.

AI-enabled discovery demand increasingly influences DNA synthesis and protein solutions

CEO and co-founder Dr. Emily Leproust said the quarter’s performance built on operating momentum from fiscal 2025 and reflected trends she believes remain intact. Leproust and President/COO Dr. Patrick Finn focused much of their prepared remarks and Q&A on Twist’s efforts to serve what they described as a rapidly forming market in AI-enabled therapeutics discovery.

Laponis reported that DNA synthesis and protein solutions (DSPS) revenue increased to $51.1 million, up 27% year over year, and said the growth was driven by customers pursuing AI-enabled discovery. Leproust said the company had booked more than $25 million in orders tied specifically to AI discovery in fiscal 2025, describing those orders as “backloaded,” with some orders received in the fourth quarter shipping in the first quarter. In response to analyst questions, she said customers with large orders in prior quarters were returning with additional large orders, and that Twist was also adding more large pharma, “the Magnificent Seven,” and well-funded startups.

Finn described how Twist has expanded beyond synthesizing DNA into protein expression and antibody characterization services, aimed at helping customers generate high-quality experimental data at scale for model training and molecule testing. He outlined three customer categories: large pharma building models and training sets; large technology companies entering life sciences without wet labs; and well-funded biotechs seeking similar scale. Finn said the constraint in more mature AI workflows shifts toward the speed, quality, and economics of experimental data generation, and he positioned Twist’s platform as capable of moving customers “from design to data in days, not months.”

Management also discussed unit economics and pricing in the Q&A. Leproust said pricing “depends,” but gave examples ranging from about $50 for a fragment and $100 for clonal genes to $200-plus for an antibody, and said data deliverables can be in the $300–$400 range depending on customer requirements. Finn emphasized that Twist initially “gold plates” new offerings to meet customer needs and then automates and optimizes processes, aiming to bring margin profiles in line with the broader business.

NGS applications growth impacted by one large customer; management points to rebound

NGS applications revenue was approximately $52.6 million in the quarter. Laponis said that excluding one large customer, NGS grew 18% year over year. Revenue from the top 10 NGS applications customers represented about 36% of NGS revenue for the quarter.

Addressing questions about guidance and customer concentration, Leproust said the previously noted “one customer dynamic” in NGS had passed, adding that the customer was “back” and that orders were in. She said the company did not expect similar one-customer dynamics going forward. In its outlook for the second quarter, Laponis said Twist expects strong sequential growth in NGS driven by growth in key accounts, with sequential growth throughout the year as previously discussed.

Leproust also discussed diagnostic partnerships, saying fiscal 2026 NGS growth is expected to come from existing partners, with deals signed and validations complete, while additional partners are more important for growth in fiscal 2027 and fiscal 2028. She said the company was working actively to bring on more diagnostic partners but did not provide a target number of deals to be announced in fiscal 2026.

Geographic and end-market trends show therapeutics strength and OEM expansion

By geography, Laponis said Americas revenue was about $58.4 million versus $53.7 million a year earlier, EMEA was about $38.4 million versus $28.3 million, and APAC was about $7.0 million versus $6.7 million.

By industry vertical:

Therapeutics revenue increased to approximately $37.2 million from $26.8 million, up 39%, which management attributed to greater uptake by large pharma and biotech in discovery, including AI-enabled discovery.
Diagnostics revenue was approximately $35.3 million, about flat versus $35.5 million. Excluding one customer, diagnostics was up 12% year over year, and Laponis noted that much of OEM partner activity is believed to be focused on diagnostics.
Industry and applied revenue was $6.1 million, up from $5.5 million.
Academic research and government revenue was approximately $12.2 million, about flat year over year. Laponis said there were fewer large-scale projects versus the year-ago period but a larger number of customers purchasing based on product launches and academic commercialization efforts, and he said the company expects the academic market to return to growth in the second quarter with increased confidence in NIH funding for 2026.

Global supply partner revenue rose to $12.8 million from $8.5 million, a 50% increase. Laponis attributed the gain to a new NGS partner coming online, growth among diagnostics OEM partners, and APAC distributor growth.

Guidance raised; investments described as deliberate while maintaining break-even target

Twist raised its full-year revenue outlook to $435 million to $440 million (about 16% growth at the midpoint), with Laponis saying the increase versus prior guidance was generally balanced across DSPS and NGS. For the second quarter, the company guided to revenue of $107 million to $108 million, also about 16% growth at the midpoint.

On profitability, Leproust reiterated the company’s commitment to adjusted EBITDA break-even in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026. She said Twist had increased operating expenses by about $10 million per quarter to support growth without putting the break-even target at risk. Management also reiterated its expectation that 75% to 80% of incremental revenue drops to the gross margin line over time, with Finn citing 74% in the first quarter.

When asked about gross margin cadence, Laponis said the company’s decision to hold full-year gross margin guidance above 52% reflected a deliberate choice to accelerate top-line growth rather than maximize near-term margin expansion. He pointed to hiring operators, adding automation, and launching new characterization and other technologies, noting that early processes can be manual before being automated and optimized.

In closing remarks, Leproust said Twist plans to host an Investor Day in May to provide deeper detail on customer use cases, product roadmap, market expansion opportunities, and financial frameworks as the company scales beyond adjusted EBITDA break-even.

About Twist Bioscience (NASDAQ:TWST)

Twist Bioscience Corporation is a synthetic biology company specializing in the development and commercialization of DNA-based products and solutions. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in South San Francisco, California, the company has pioneered a proprietary silicon-based DNA synthesis platform designed for high-throughput production of synthetic genes and oligonucleotides. Twist leverages semiconductor manufacturing techniques to enable precise, scalable synthesis of DNA at speeds and volumes unattainable with traditional methods.

At the core of Twist’s offering is its proprietary platform that automates the synthesis of custom DNA fragments, gene libraries, and long oligonucleotides.