Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (VKTX) saw its shares plummet by 9.91% in pre-market trading on Thursday, following the company's disappointing fourth-quarter 2024 earnings release and lack of significant new developments regarding its lead obesity drug candidate VK2735.

For the fourth quarter, Viking reported a wider loss of $0.32 per share, missing consensus analyst estimates of a $0.27 per share loss. The earnings miss appears to be a key factor behind the stock's pre-market decline.

While Viking provided updates across its pipeline, including plans to initiate Phase 3 trials for the subcutaneous formulation of VK2735 in obesity in Q2 2025, some analysts noted a lack of major new updates or catalysts for the highly anticipated obesity program. Analysts called the updates "incremental," potentially disappointing investors who were hoping for more substantial progress on VK2735.

The company did highlight positive data from a Phase 2 study evaluating an oral tablet formulation of VK2735, as well as encouraging results for its drug candidates VK2809 in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and VK0214 in X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD). However, these updates were not seen as significant enough to offset the earnings miss and lack of groundbreaking news on the lead obesity program.