NEW YORK – Twist Bioscience reported a 109 percent increase in third quarter fiscal year 2019 revenues after the close of the market on Thursday.
For the quarter ended June 30, Twist reported $13.6 million in revenues, up from $6.5 million during the same period last year. It beat analysts' average revenue estimate of $12.8 million. Of those revenues, $5.6 million were from next-generation sequencing products, and $8.0 million were from synthetic biology — including $2.2 million from Gingko Bioworks.
"Beyond the core genes and NGS businesses, we have generated additional proof-of-concept data for new GPCR antibody targets. In data storage, we are investing in our next chip design, which will be the foundation to bring us to the point of cost-competitive for a commercial offering. We completed the back-end gene production move to a larger facility and looking ahead, we expect to post strong results through the end of the year," Twist CEO and Cofounder Emily Leproust said in a statement.
In a conference call following the release of results, Leproust noted Twist increased its non-Ginkgo revenue and was reaching smaller customers in the synbio market.
Broken down geographically, revenues from Europe, Middle East, and Africa were $3.5 million, up 125 percent year over year and Asia-Pacific revenues were $900,000, up 127 percent year over year.
Research and development expenses for the quarter totaled $9.0 million, up 71 percent from $5.3 million in Q3 of fiscal year 2018.
Selling, general and administrative expenses amounted to $21.3 million in Q3, up 89 percent from $11.3 million during the same period last year, mainly due to higher legal fees, additional commercial costs, and investments in Twist's commercial team. The firm said it added 11 employees in Q3.
Twist's net loss for the quarter was $27.9 million or $.92 per share, up from $17.6 million or $6.18 per share in Q3 of fiscal year 2018. Analysts had estimated a loss of $.82 per share on average.
Twist used approximately 30.3 million shares to calculate per-share loss in the recently completed quarter compared to about 2.8 million shares a year ago. The company filed for an IPO in October 2018, in which it raised about $70 million, and it completed a follow-on public offering of 4.3 million shares, resulting in approximately $84.3 million in net proceeds.
The company ended the quarter with $68.2 million in cash and cash equivalents and $93.6 million in short-term investments.
Twist raised its guidance for revenue for fiscal year 2019. It now expects revenues in the range of $52 million to $53 million, up from $50 million to $52 million, based on "solid growth in orders, continued expansion, and diversification of our synthetic biology portfolio including our genes and our NGS tools," Twist CFO Jim Thorburn said.
The company also said it now expects an FY19 net loss of $102 million to $104 million, up from $97 million to $99 million, due to an increased investment in its commercial organization. Twist added that it expects approximately $1 million in expenses related to a move to a new South San Francisco, California facility.
In Friday morning trading on the Nasdaq, shares of Twist were down less than 1 percent at $32.24.