If it is an autoflwoer, it's permenant loss. With a photoperiod it just costs you a little extra vege time to regain what was lost.
Some plants are more maleable than others (genetics).. sometimes it is indicative of a slight imbalance of fertilizer if the branches are brittle early on -- they all get rigid over time but should be bendable early.
You get lulled by the easily trained plants and then all of a sudden you snap two branches. that shit happens. I did it twice to the same plant last grow cycle, lol. "1" plant just wasn't as pliable as the others mid-flower. It ain't growing back mid-to-late flower, lol.