William Blair Issues Negative Outlook for VKTX Earnings

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) – Equities research analysts at William Blair cut their Q1 2025 earnings estimates for Viking Therapeutics in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, February 5th. William Blair analyst A. Hsieh now anticipates that the biotechnology company will post earnings per share of ($0.34) for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of ($0.28). William Blair has a “Outperform” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Viking Therapeutics’ current full-year earnings is ($1.41) per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Viking Therapeutics’ Q2 2025 earnings at ($0.36) EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at ($0.39) EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at ($0.41) EPS, FY2025 earnings at ($1.51) EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at ($0.44) EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at ($0.46) EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at ($0.47) EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at ($0.47) EPS and FY2026 earnings at ($1.84) EPS.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.25) EPS.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 target price (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.92.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of VKTX opened at $30.17 on Monday. Viking Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $29.82 and a 1-year high of $99.41. The company has a 50-day moving average of $39.63 and a 200 day moving average of $53.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.17 and a beta of 0.90.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 16.2% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 5.9% during the third quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 4,306 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Finally, S.A. Mason LLC boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,150,709.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This trade represents a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,317,691.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,994,228.50. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Company Profile

Viking Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development of novel therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders. The company's lead drug candidate is VK2809, an orally available tissue and receptor-subtype selective agonist of the thyroid hormone receptor beta (TRß), which is in Phase IIb clinical trials to treat patients with biopsy-confirmed non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, as well as NAFLD.