William Blair Issues Negative Outlook for VKTX Earnings

Key Points

• William Blair has lowered its earnings estimates for Viking Therapeutics, projecting a Q3 2025 EPS of ($0.73), significantly lower than the previous estimate of ($0.49).
• The consensus estimate for Viking Therapeutics' full-year earnings now stands at ($1.56) per share, with projections for continued losses through FY2027.
• Despite the negative outlook, several analysts maintain a positive stance with multiple buy ratings, although target prices have been adjusted downward, highlighting mixed sentiments about the stock’s potential.

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) - Stock analysts at William Blair dropped their Q3 2025 earnings per share estimates for Viking Therapeutics in a research note issued on Thursday, July 24th. William Blair analyst A. Hsieh now anticipates that the biotechnology company will post earnings per share of ($0.73) for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of ($0.49). The consensus estimate for Viking Therapeutics' current full-year earnings is ($1.56) per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Viking Therapeutics' Q4 2025 earnings at ($0.74) EPS, FY2025 earnings at ($2.47) EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at ($0.76) EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at ($0.77) EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at ($0.78) EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at ($0.78) EPS, FY2026 earnings at ($3.09) EPS and FY2027 earnings at ($3.55) EPS.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on VKTX. Citigroup lifted their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price target (down previously from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Raymond James Financial cut their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.92.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 0.6%

VKTX stock traded down $0.20 during trading on Monday, reaching $33.51. 666,426 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,085,027. Viking Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $18.92 and a twelve month high of $81.73. The company has a market capitalization of $3.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.88 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.61.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.58) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($0.14). During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.20) earnings per share. Viking Therapeutics's revenue for the quarter was up NaN% on a year-over-year basis.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 26,889 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total value of $747,514.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,388,014 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,386,789.20. The trade was a 1.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.76, for a total transaction of $118,424.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 168,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,682,001.60. This trade represents a 2.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,421 shares of company stock worth $984,405. Insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 121.5% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 29,721 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $718,000 after purchasing an additional 16,302 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 9,209.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 24,392 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $589,000 after acquiring an additional 24,130 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth $429,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 96,702 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,891,000 after acquiring an additional 14,873 shares during the period. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth $220,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company's stock.

About Viking Therapeutics

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.