The breakthrough in weight-loss medication has shaken the healthcare trade. Goldman Sachs Analysis expects weight-loss medication to spice up U.S. gross home product (GDP) by 0.4% in a baseline situation with 30 million customers and drive a 1% rise when customers attain 60 million. Additional, Goldman Sachs expects the weight-loss medication market to succeed in $100 billion a 12 months by 2030. Given the large alternative, we used TipRanks’ Inventory Comparability Instrument, to position Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY), Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX), and Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) in opposition to one another to choose the very best weight-loss drug inventory as per analysts.
Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY)
Shares of pharma big Eli Lilly have jumped greater than 99% up to now 12 months, due to optimism across the firm’s weight-loss medication. LLY’s weight-loss therapy, Zepbound, is predicated on tirzepatide, the lively ingredient that can also be current in its blockbuster diabetes drug Mounjaro.
Zepbound, which received the U.S. FDA’s (Meals and Drug Administration) approval in November 2023, generated $175.8 million in income in This fall 2023. Analysts count on the drug to contribute income of $1.9 billion within the first 12 months of gross sales itself.
Zepbound and Mounjaro mimic two naturally produced intestine hormones, known as GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide 1) and GIP (glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide), which assist in suppressing urge for food.
Except for these quickly rising medication, Eli Lilly additionally boasts a diversified portfolio of therapies throughout oncology, immunology, and neuroscience.
Is Eli Lilly a Purchase, Promote, or Maintain?
Earlier this month, Erste Group analyst Hans Engel upgraded Eli Lilly inventory to Purchase from Maintain, because the analyst expects the corporate’s income to rise by a excessive double-digit proportion this 12 months. Engel expects additional acceleration within the prime line subsequent 12 months.
Moreover, Engel tasks that LLY’s working revenue and web revenue will develop at a quicker price than gross sales. He’s notably inspired by the FDA’s approval of Zepbound for weight problems therapy.
With 16 Buys and three Holds, Eli Lilly scores a Robust Purchase consensus score on TipRanks. The typical LLY inventory worth goal of $854.63 implies 14.5% upside potential.
Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX)
Shares of Viking Therapeutics have rallied greater than 262% up to now 12 months, with the corporate gearing as much as problem pharma giants Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk in capturing the large alternative within the weight-loss drug market. Viking is a clinical-stage biopharma firm targeted on growing novel therapeutics for the therapy of metabolic and endocrine problems.
In late March, Viking impressed buyers by asserting optimistic outcomes for its experimental weight-loss tablet VK2735 in a Section 1 examine. The corporate added that it plans to start a Section 2 trial of the weight-loss drug later this 12 months. This weight-loss tablet is the oral model of VKTX’s weight-loss injection, for which the corporate reported encouraging mid-stage trial ends in February.
It’s attention-grabbing to notice that Viking has one other promising drug candidate, VK2809, in Section 2 trial. It’s an experimental remedy for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).
Is VKTX Inventory a Good Purchase?
Earlier this month, analysts at Oppenheimer revealed their listing of 24 smidcap shares (small and mid-cap shares with a market capitalization within the vary of $1 billion to $10 billion), together with Viking, which they imagine have “untapped firepower.”
In late March, Oppenheimer analyst Jay Olson elevated the value goal for VKTX inventory to $138 from $116 and reiterated a Purchase score on the inventory after the corporate reported optimistic top-line outcomes from the Section 1 trial of oral VK2735. The analyst believes that the corporate has a number of choices to discover extra dosing regimens and additional improve the protection and efficacy of VK2735.
Wall Road is very bullish on Viking Therapeutics inventory, with a Robust Purchase consensus score based mostly on 9 unanimous Buys. At $113.50, the typical VKTX inventory worth goal signifies 67% upside potential.
Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO)
Shares of Novo Nordisk have superior 46% over the previous 12 months, fueled by the sturdy demand for the corporate’s Wegovy and Ozempic anti-obesity medication. Semaglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist, is the first lively ingredient in Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus.
The huge demand for these weight-loss medication has helped Denmark-based Novo Nordisk win about 60% of the GLP-1 market share. Nevertheless, there are considerations about rising competitors from Eli Lilly and different rising gamers targeted on growing weight-loss medication.
Novo Nordisk acquired an extra increase when in early March, the U.S. FDA permitted Wegovy for cardiovascular threat discount in adults with recognized coronary heart illness and chubby or weight problems. A number of analysts are optimistic in regards to the potential approval of the corporate’s weight-loss medication in different therapeutic areas.
What’s the Value Goal for NVO Inventory?
On April 12, BMO Capital analyst Evan Seigerman initiated protection of Novo Nordisk inventory with a Purchase score and a worth goal of $163.
The analyst cited a number of elements for his bullish sentiment, together with the corporate’s promising in-development medication for weight problems and Kind-2 diabetes and the acquisition of Catalent to boost its manufacturing capabilities.
Wall Road has a Average Purchase consensus score on Novo Nordisk inventory based mostly on 5 Buys, one Maintain, and one Promote. The typical NVO inventory worth goal of $127.93 implies a modest upside of three.6% from present ranges.
Conclusion
Wall Road is very bullish on Eli Lilly and Viking Therapeutics however cautiously optimistic about Novo Nordisk. At present, analysts foresee a better upside potential in VKTX inventory than the shares of the opposite two weight-loss drugmakers.
Traders ought to perceive that Viking is a high-risk, high-reward inventory. It’s a pre-revenue firm that at the moment doesn’t have an permitted product. Nonetheless, the potential approval of the corporate’s weight-loss drug may considerably increase its merchandise, given the large addressable market on this area.
Disclosure