Positioning Viking Therapeutics’ VK2735 as a Differentiated, Best-in-Class Obesity Franchise with Compelling Monthly Maintenance Potential Supporting a Buy Rating

William Blair analyst Andy Hsieh has maintained their bullish stance on VKTX stock, giving a Buy rating today.

Andy Hsieh has given his Buy rating due to a combination of factors related to Viking Therapeutics’ differentiated obesity franchise. He highlights that the company is deliberately designing VK2735 to address both the active weight loss and the long-term maintenance phases by using the same molecule across treatment stages, which may enable more precise control of receptor engagement and more durable weight maintenance. He also notes that the company is testing a wide range of maintenance dosing formats—including daily and weekly oral options as well as a monthly injectable—to better serve the diverse needs of an expansive and heterogeneous obesity population.

In his view, the inclusion of multiple control arms in the Phase I maintenance study (such as continued weekly dosing, switch-to-placebo, and placebo-only groups) should help investors clearly interpret the maintenance performance of VK2735 and assess the feasibility of converting efficacious weekly doses into convenient monthly regimens. Hsieh believes that demonstrating credible monthly dosing in obesity, where robust data are still scarce, would be a significant competitive advantage and highly attractive to larger pharmaceutical companies. Combined with VK2735’s best-in-class potential and the current surge in obesity-focused dealmaking, he concludes that Viking’s pipeline and strategic positioning support a favorable risk-reward profile that justifies a Buy rating.

In another report released today, H.C. Wainwright also reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a $102.00 price target.

Based on the recent corporate insider activity of 30 insiders, corporate insider sentiment is negative on the stock. This means that over the past quarter there has been an increase of insiders selling their shares of VKTX in relation to earlier this year.