Why Viking Therapeutics Stock Zoomed 5% Higher Today

Key Points

• Positive news from a rival sparked a sympathy rally.

• This was aided by a positive research note published by an analyst.

• 10 stocks we like better than Viking Therapeutics ›

Good news from a peer and a positive analyst update were the elements driving Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ: VKTX) stock higher on the first trading day of the week.

The clinical-stage biotech, closely watched by some because of its investigational weight-loss drug VK2735, saw its share price improve by more than 5% as a result. By contrast, the S&P 500 index basically traded flat across the trading session.

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What's good for the goose...

The news driving Viking and other obesity drug developers came from a leading company in that space, Wegovy maker Novo Nordisk.

Image source: Getty Images.

Late Friday, the Denmark-based pharmaceutical announced that Wegovy earned approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat a new indication, noncirrhotic metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), a liver disorder.

Companies like Viking and Novo Nordisk have been on the radar of many of an investor because of the obvious side benefits to obesity drugs. The latter company earning a fresh approval to treat a medical issue besides obesity provides a significant morale boost to shareholders of weight loss drug developers.

Bullish stance reiterated

Also improving sentiment on Viking stock was that new analyst note. Monday morning before market open, Piper Sandler's Biren Amin reiterated his overweight (buy, in other words) recommendation and $71-per-share price target on the biotech.

Amin's focus, according to reports, wasn't Novo Nordisk's recent news; rather, he was cheered by the prospects for VK2735. Viking is putting an oral version of the medication through clinical trials, and the readout of a phase 3 study is expected within this calendar quarter. In his estimation, if oral VK2735 continues to do well in testing and is brought to market, it could garner sales of $2.1 billion.

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Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Novo Nordisk and Viking Therapeutics. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.