What is Leerink Partnrs’ Forecast for VKTX Q1 Earnings?

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) – Equities research analysts at Leerink Partnrs issued their Q1 2025 EPS estimates for Viking Therapeutics in a report released on Wednesday, February 5th. Leerink Partnrs analyst T. Smith anticipates that the biotechnology company will earn ($0.35) per share for the quarter. The consensus estimate for Viking Therapeutics’ current full-year earnings is ($0.97) per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Viking Therapeutics’ Q2 2025 earnings at ($0.41) EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at ($0.47) EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at ($0.50) EPS and FY2029 earnings at $5.24 EPS.

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

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on VKTX. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. B. Riley assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $109.00 target price for the company. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James increased their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $107.08.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 6.1 %

Shares of VKTX stock opened at $31.46 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $40.46 and a 200-day moving average of $54.01. The company has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.83 and a beta of 0.90. Viking Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $23.81 and a 52 week high of $99.41.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $8,314,447.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,366,570 shares in the company, valued at $101,170,867.50. This trade represents a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. This represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849 in the last quarter. 4.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. Oak Ridge Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth $837,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 43.5% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 102,324 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,478,000 after buying an additional 31,011 shares in the last quarter. Nvwm LLC bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter worth about $999,000. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 88.0% during the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 36,666 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,322,000 after buying an additional 17,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 92.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 131,348 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $8,316,000 after acquiring an additional 62,956 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.