BUZZ — Viking Therapeutics falls on $275 mln stock, $225 mln convertible deals

* Shares of Viking Therapeutics down 9.6% at $37.65 before the bell on Thurs after securing capital raise * VKTX sells ~7.9 mln shares at $35 for $275 mln gross proceeds; offering price represents 16% discount to stock's last close * It also announces offering of $225 mln 2% convertible bonds (CBs) due Oct 15, 2032; conversion price of $50.75 set 45% above the $35 offering price of the stock deal * San Diego, California-based firm late Weds had targeted a $400 mln raise, split equally between stock and CBs * On Tues, VKTX shares surged ~36% to $40.85 after co's obesity drug, VK2735, showed durable weight-loss benefit in patients in a study compared with those on placebo * Co intends to use net proceeds from the offerings for clinical development, advancement and commercialization of its VK2735 program, and advancement of its VK3019 program, among other purposes * Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan are joint bookrunners for both offerings, among others * With ~116.65 mln shares outstanding, VKTX has approx $4.9 bln market cap * Avg rating of 20 analysts covering the stock is "buy"; median PT $100, per LSEG (Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own) ((lance.tu