Jim Cramer’s Lightning Rounds: 9 Stocks in Focus

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

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 41

When a caller asked Cramer about Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX), he suggested going for Viking Holdings instead as it might offer much less heartache.

“I want you to sell Viking Therapeutics and roll it into Viking Holdings, which is a fantastic cruise line, does not save lives, does not lower your blood pressure… but darn, you’ll have a good time.”

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) focuses on developing novel therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders, with several drug candidates in clinical trials for conditions such as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, type 2 diabetes, and hip fracture recovery. Cramer has previously compared the company to its competitors in February 2024 as he said:

“If you should be king, you have to kill the king, but they’re not. Viking Therapeutics has a phase two trial that went well, that is able to get you to lose weight faster than Eli Lilly’s GLP-1… Now, here’s the problem… When you have these things, the FDA wants to favor the incumbent because it’s already been approved.

Secondly, Eli Lilly has a similar formulation, but third, what seems to be left out constantly is it’s really hard to build all the plants you need to get this. You’ve got David Ricks who’s very good, knows how to build the plants… Well, look, enjoy it while it lasts. There’s many challengers. Amgen was a challenger. Pfizer was a challenger… Everything that this Viking has, Dave Rick’s working on it at Lily, it has something… But people have to understand, I’ve worked with the FDA, the FDA, once you have a drug, they take their time with the second drug… I find the FDA to be incredibly responsible.”