NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Twist Bioscience reported after the close of the market on Wednesday that revenues for its fiscal fourth quarter 2018 rose 140 percent year over year.
For the three months ended Sept. 30, 2018, the firm reported total revenues of $8.4 million compared to $3.5 million in the year-ago period, due primarily to increased sales of genes, oligo pools, and DNA libraries, as well as the introduction of next-generation sequencing tools and products. It beat analysts average estimate of $8.3 million The synthetic DNA firm said that it shipped around 71,000 genes in fiscal Q4 2018, up from 38,000 in fiscal Q4 2017.
The fiscal Q4 revenues were dominated by Twist's synthetic biology business, and in particular its genes business, Twist's CFO Jim Thorburn said during a conference call discussing the firm's performance. Twist recognized $6.1 million in revenue from its synthetic genes business, $3.2 million of which was from its largest customer Ginkgo Bioworks. In March of this year, Twist signed a 4-year supply agreement with Ginkgo, which will generate around $8 million in revenue each year. Revenues from its NGS business were just under $1 million in fiscal Q4 2018, Thorburn said.
Twist reported its revenues for the first time since going public in October, raising around $69 million in net proceeds.
Twist CEO and Co-founder Emily Leproust said in a statement that it was "an exceptional year" for the company. "We've doubled our revenue coming from our synthetic biology products, launched our target enrichment kits for next-generation sequencing, which is gaining traction in the marketplace, expanded internationally, and laid a foundation for both our drug discovery and DNA digital data storage verticals."
The company's net loss in fiscal Q4 2018 was $19.8 million, or $6.59 per share, compared to $17.0 million, or $6.68 per share, in fiscal Q4 2017. Analysts had estimated a net loss per share of $.78.
Twist's R&D expenses were $6.1 million in the quarter, up 24 percent from $4.9 million in fiscal Q4 2017, due primarily to the launch of the Twist Biopharma business. SG&A expenses grew 55 percent to $13.0 million from $8.4 million, due to increased headcount, advertising and marketing, professional and legal expenses, stock compensation expenses, and information technology-related charges.
Total revenues for fiscal year 2018 were $25.4 million, a 136 percent increase from $10.8 million in fiscal year 2017.
Net loss for the year was $71.2 million, or $25.51 per share, compared to $59.3 million, or $24.49 per share, in fiscal year 2017.
For the 2019 fiscal year, Twist anticipates total revenues between $46 million and $48 million with a net loss of $80 million to $82 million.
As of Sept. 30, 2018, the company had $80.8 million in cash and cash equivalents.
Shares of Twist were down less than 1 percent on the Nasdaq in Thursday morning trading.