Why Viking Therapeutics Inc. (VKTX) Is Skyrocketing Today?

We recently published a list of 10 Stocks Skyrocketing Today. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Viking Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) stands against other stocks that are skyrocketing today.

The stock market ended mixed on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones emerging as the sole decliner, as investors digested more news of tariff threats from President Donald Trump.

The Dow dropped by 0.20 percent, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq clocked in gains of 0.49 percent and 1.22 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, 10 companies, predominantly those riding the AI wave, were touted as investors’ haven, clocking in gains during a cautious trading session.

In this article, we have identified the 10 strongest firms on Wednesday and detailed the reasons behind their performance.

To come up with the list, we considered only the stocks with at least $2 billion in market capitalization and $5 million in trading volume.

A microbiologist in protective gear studying samples in a laboratory.

Viking Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Viking Therapeutics jumped by 11.43 percent on Wednesday to end at $29.55 each as investor sentiment was fueled by news that it partnered with CordenPharma for the production of its weight loss treatment VK2735.

Under the terms of the agreement, VKTX and CordenPharma would manufacture and supply 100 million autoinjectors and an additional 100 million vial and syringe products for the subcutaneous formulation, as well as an annual capacity of over 1 billion oral VK2735 tablets.

“These API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) and final finished product capacities are further expandable at Viking’s option,” the company said.

In exchange, VKTX said it would make prepayments totaling $150 million, to be paid over the period from 2025 to 2028. Prepayments will be credited against future orders. VKTX said it retains ownership of all global rights to VK2735 under the agreement and expects to maintain standard pharmaceutical product margins.

Overall, VKTX ranks 4th on our list of stocks that are skyrocketing today. While we acknowledge the potential of VKTX as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than VKTX but trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.