Twist Bioscience Corp (NASDAQ:TWST) shares surged Wednesday after Anthropic named the company an independent evaluator in a new AI-driven protein design campaign.
The bullish momentum overshadowed a critical short report published on X by activist short-seller Scorpion Capital, with the stock showing no negative reaction to the tweet.
Benzinga reached out to Twist Bioscience for comment regarding the short seller’s claims but did not immediately receive a response.
Here’s what investors need to know.
“Speculative Delusion”
Scorpion Capital’s post labeled Twist’s AI drug-discovery narrative a “speculative delusion,” asserting that recent market exuberance over an Anthropic protein-design project is entirely misguided.
According to the short-seller, Anthropic’s research paper refers to Twist strictly as an “external evaluator” and a commodity contract research organization for outsourced wet-lab production and testing services, rather than a strategic AI technology partner.
Questioning Analyst Hype
The report criticized Wall Street analysts from TD Cowen and Piper Sandler for hyping the arrangement as a significant milestone.
Scorpion highlighted that Twist filed a reactive Form 8-K under Item 7.01 (Regulation FD) instead of Item 1.01 for a material definitive agreement, arguing this clearly demonstrates the project’s financial insignificance.
A “Deflationary” Threat?
Furthermore, Scorpion argued that Anthropic’s findings are structurally bearish for Twist. Anthropic reported that its Claude-designed proteins achieved a 22% to 35% target-binding success rate, significantly outperforming typical 10% to 15% benchmarks.
Scorpion contends this increased accuracy is highly deflationary, as scientists will only need to order roughly half as many physical constructs per successful binder.
Scorpion Capital explicitly disclosed holding a short position in TWST shares Wednesday afternoon.
TWST Shares Surge Wednesday
TWST Price Action: Twist Bioscience shares closed up on Wednesday at 22.64% at $142.39. The stock is trading at a new 52-week high, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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