Oppenheimer’s Favorite Stocks For Next 12 Months: Top 32 Stock Picks

2. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Share Price Upside: 76%

Number of Hedge Fund Investors In Q2 2024: 50

Average Analyst Share Price Target: $113.55

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) is a biotechnology company developing treatments for liver diseases and post surgical complications. Its lead drug candidate is the VK-2809 drug, which is intended to treat patients with steatohepatitis. However, another key aspect of the drug is the fact that it is a GLP-1 agonist, which also opens up the secondary weight loss drug market to Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX). A key advantage of VK-2809 is that it is in tablet form, which makes the drug easier to administer as opposed to the injections that are currently dominating the market. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) is also developing the VK-2735 drug that also targets the weight loss market and increases the firm’s exposure to this multi billion dollar industry. VK-2735 entered into Phase 2 trials in Q2, and Oppenheimer believes views the firm’s ” current market cap as undervalued compared to its peers.”

Baron Funds mentioned Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) in its Q2 2024 investor letter. Here is what the firm said:

“Another source of weakness in the sub-industry was Viking Therapeutics, Inc., whose shares pulled back aer increasing nearly 300% in the prior quarter. Viking develops metabolic disease medicines with focus on diabetes/obesity and MASH (metabolic steatohepatitis, i.e., fatty liver). The company’s lead asset is VK2735, an injectable and oral version of a GLP-1/GIP combination weight loss medication that directly competes with Lilly’s Mounjaro/Zepbound. Both of Viking’s main assets appear to be more efficacious than their competitors’ in two exceptionally large revenue end markets. Viking’s stock detracted as biotechnology specialists have leaned into an alternative mechanism for obesity called amylin inhibition and don’t view the company as an attractive acquisition target (an opinion we disagree with). The recent rebalance of the well-known SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI) also pressured Viking’s share price due to forced selling by many long/short strategies to reweight their positions.”