VKTX Stock Recent News

I rate Altimmune a 'Strong Buy' and Viking Therapeutics a 'Buy' for high-risk, long-term investors. ALT's Pemvidutide stands out for its lean mass protection, visceral fat reduction, and potential in multiple metabolic diseases, making it an attractive acquisition target. VKTX's VK2735 offers strong weight loss efficacy and dual formulation flexibility, but faces tough competition and lacks clear differentiation, despite financial stability.

Growth investors have had to work harder than usual to find winners in 2025. With the S&P 500 essentially flat year to date amid President Trump's global trade reset and persistent inflation concerns, the easy gains of prior years have evaporated.

The recommendations of Wall Street analysts are often relied on by investors when deciding whether to buy, sell, or hold a stock. Media reports about these brokerage-firm-employed (or sell-side) analysts changing their ratings often affect a stock's price.

With VKTX surging on clinical results and NVO investing to cement market share, investors face a high-stake GLP-1 showdown.

VKTX remains a speculative, high-risk/reward play, with its future hinging on successful Phase III trial results for its obesity drug pipeline. The company's strong cash position and recent manufacturing partnerships support its path toward commercialization, despite expected negative free cash flow through FY2028. VKTX's diversified pipeline, including NAFLD and rare disease prospects, provides some downside protection as it awaits pivotal clinical milestones.

Investors looking to cash in on the fast-growing market for weight management medicines will naturally turn to the two leaders in this area, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk. However, several other companies seem to have somewhat promising prospects in this field.

Viking Therapeutics remains a promising weight-loss drug biotech due to the enrollment of new promising trials. The weight-loss sector's momentum has faded some, but Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have still generated substantial value for shareholders. Viking Therapeutics has upcoming catalysts, including late-July Phase 2 oral data and Phase 3 injectable trial enrollment, potentially driving significant upside in the stock.

Viking targets massive, validated markets with GLP-1/GIP and THR-β agonists, offering injectable and oral alternatives with promising Phase 2/3 results. Positioned as a second-line, tolerable, patient-friendly treatment in an established space with significant addressable market size. Compared to some other binary bets in big pharma, Viking offers leaner operations, lower complexity, faster trial execution, and less execution risk.

VKTX's VENTURE-Oral study of VK2735 has completed enrollment, with a readout set for H2'25. The company's phase 3 program on subcutaneous VK2735 is getting underway, although given it will contain thousands of patients, a readout isn't a near-term prospect. VKTX will evaluate once-monthly maintenance dosing of VK2735 in 2025, which could allow it to confirm it can compete with the likes of agents from AMGN and MTSR.

A major C-suite change at a potential competitor was a key factor behind the rise of Viking Therapeutics (VKTX 3.61%) stock on Friday, which closed the trading session 3% higher. That figure was well higher than the 0.7% increase of the benchmark S&P 500 index.