Why Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ: VKTX) is gaining momentum before ObesityWeek 2025 reveals

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: VKTX) saw a sharp rise in its share price in late October 2025, gaining over 7% intraday, as investor anticipation grew around the company’s upcoming obesity drug presentations at multiple medical conferences. The presentations will center on VK2735, the company’s dual-agonist candidate designed to activate both GLP-1 and GIP receptors — a popular and highly competitive therapeutic space that includes drugs from Eli Lilly and Company as well as Novo Nordisk A/S.

The jump in Viking Therapeutics’ stock appears to reflect more than short-term enthusiasm. Institutional and retail interest is converging around two pivotal clinical moments: the company’s scheduled appearances at ObesityWeek 2025 and the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions 2025. While the company is still in the clinical development phase, the market’s early response signals confidence in Viking Therapeutics’ potential to carve out a viable position in the expanding obesity drug sector.

What will Viking Therapeutics reveal about VK2735 at these conferences?

The upcoming presentations will not only outline updated clinical findings but also shed light on the design of the company’s ongoing Phase 3 trials — VANQUISH-1 and VANQUISH-2 — and explore subgroup data from earlier Phase 2 results. Specifically, Viking Therapeutics intends to present safety and efficacy data from its Phase 2 trial in obese patients, with a focus on glucose metabolism, lipid profiles, and other cardiometabolic risk factors. These findings will be contextualized within the VENTURE study, which is examining VK2735 in prediabetic populations.

Beyond the injection-based version, Viking Therapeutics is also advancing an oral formulation of VK2735. The dual-format development strategy allows the company to target a broader slice of the obesity and metabolic disease markets, where patient preference for oral drugs remains high despite the dominance of injectable therapies like Wegovy and Mounjaro.

The Phase 2 results from earlier in 2025 demonstrated that patients receiving VK2735 showed statistically significant reductions in body weight compared to placebo. Importantly, the drug also appeared to have a favorable safety and tolerability profile — a key hurdle in the high-attrition world of metabolic drug development.

What does the recent stock movement of Viking Therapeutics indicate about investor sentiment and market expectations?

Viking Therapeutics’ stock was last trading around USD 39, with notable momentum following the October 30 rally. Analysts have set twelve-month price targets in the range of USD 75 to USD 90, reflecting potential upside of over 100% from current levels if upcoming data supports the drug’s competitive potential.

Investor sentiment has also been buoyed by the company’s solid financial runway. As of the third quarter of 2025, Viking Therapeutics reported cash and cash equivalents of approximately USD 715 million, with no long-term debt on the books. This liquidity provides the company with the necessary firepower to advance both versions of VK2735 through Phase 3 trials without immediate dilution or financing pressure.

However, the company’s net losses have widened, with a reported net loss of USD 202 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2025, compared to USD 74.5 million in the same period the previous year. While these figures are not surprising given the cost of late-stage trials, they do underscore the importance of delivering strong clinical data to sustain investor confidence.

How does Viking Therapeutics compare to sector leaders like Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk?

The obesity drug market is now one of the most lucrative and hotly contested segments in biotech. Eli Lilly and Company and Novo Nordisk A/S dominate the space with their blockbuster therapies, but they have also opened the door for second-wave competitors like Viking Therapeutics to target differentiation through formulation flexibility, tolerability, or pricing.

While Viking Therapeutics is not yet commercial, its dual-agonist approach mimics the mechanism of action that has driven the success of tirzepatide, marketed as Mounjaro. The key difference lies in delivery format and trial design. Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk A/S have focused primarily on injectable formulations, while Viking Therapeutics is advancing both injectable and oral options, which may cater to different patient segments and potentially unlock larger addressable markets.

Industry experts point out that Viking’s nimbleness and focused pipeline could give it an advantage in specific niches — such as weight maintenance dosing, prediabetes intervention, and treatment-resistant populations. However, success will depend on consistent tolerability, long-term efficacy, and clear evidence of benefit over existing drugs.

What are the key risks for Viking Therapeutics in this stage of development?

Despite the positive momentum, Viking Therapeutics is still an early-stage clinical biotechnology company, and its valuation is highly sensitive to trial outcomes. Previous industry setbacks — including safety issues, lower-than-expected efficacy, or high dropout rates — have frequently derailed promising metabolic candidates. Viking’s prior 40% share price drop earlier in 2025 after less-than-stellar oral data serves as a reminder that investor optimism can reverse swiftly.

Moreover, any delay in data readouts, regulatory friction, or competitive surprises from bigger players can alter the calculus. Analysts also note that while the company’s cash balance is currently healthy, any future scale-up for commercial production or additional indications would require substantial investment or partnerships.

There is also the broader concern of GLP-1 class fatigue. With so many entrants and constant headlines, the bar for differentiation is rising. To justify long-term valuations, Viking Therapeutics will need to show not only weight loss efficacy but durable cardiometabolic benefits, convenient administration, and possibly superior safety over market incumbents.

What’s the outlook for Viking Therapeutics after the conference season?

If Viking Therapeutics delivers strong data and is able to clearly articulate a differentiated clinical profile for VK2735, the stock could see substantial upward re-rating. The obesity market, projected to cross USD 100 billion by 2030, still has room for multiple players — especially those offering innovation in delivery, durability, and affordability.

The next key catalyst will be the detailed poster and oral presentations at ObesityWeek and the American Heart Association events. These will offer a deeper look into weight loss percentages, responder rates, and metabolic markers. Investors should also watch for any language suggesting plans for licensing, strategic partnerships, or label expansion.

Given the cash runway, dual-modality strategy, and potential unmet need in maintenance therapy and prediabetes, Viking Therapeutics has a plausible path to becoming a serious player in this space — provided it avoids major setbacks in trial execution or tolerability.

Is Viking Therapeutics still under the radar or entering breakout territory?

Viking Therapeutics is emerging as one of the most closely watched mid-cap biotech companies in the obesity and metabolic disease segment. Its development of both injectable and oral formulations of VK2735 places it in a unique position — not just clinically, but commercially — to meet evolving patient and payer preferences in a rapidly growing therapeutic class.

If VK2735 continues to show compelling efficacy and favorable tolerability in broader populations, institutional interest is likely to accelerate. Already, investor forums and analyst circles are speculating whether Viking Therapeutics could attract acquisition interest from larger pharmaceutical companies looking to diversify beyond current GLP-1/GIP franchises.

While Viking Therapeutics remains in the clinical development stage, it is no longer an obscure player. The visibility and expectations around its obesity pipeline are rising. The next few weeks — particularly the scientific disclosures at ObesityWeek and the American Heart Association meeting — could be pivotal in defining whether the company transitions from a promising clinical-stage contender to a validated commercial challenger.

Key takeaways from Viking Therapeutics’ obesity drug momentum and stock rally

• Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ: VKTX) shares jumped ahead of key medical conferences featuring its obesity drug VK2735.

• The company will present data from both injectable and oral formulations of VK2735 at ObesityWeek and the AHA Scientific Sessions.

• Viking Therapeutics is running Phase 3 trials (VANQUISH-1 and VANQUISH-2) alongside metabolic exploratory studies in prediabetes.

• The company has USD 715 million in cash but widened net losses to USD 202 million YTD, highlighting reliance on clinical success.

• Analysts project upside of over 100% if VK2735 delivers compelling data; consensus sees Viking Therapeutics as a “Strong Buy.”