2 Underrated Weight Loss Stocks to Buy and Hold

Regeneron and Amgen both have promising obesity pipelines, with Regeneron’s olatorepatide showing up to 19% weight loss in a 48-week China study and Amgen’s MariTide advancing in phase 3 across multiple indications. Regenereron's Q1 revenue rose 19% to $3.6 billion, while Amgen's revenue increased 6% to $8.6 billion despite denosumab patent loss. The article is broadly bullish on both names, also highlighting Amgen’s 3% dividend yield and diversified growth drivers.

Analysis

The market is still pricing obesity exposure as a binary winner-take-all race, but the more durable edge here is in companies that can monetize the category without needing to win it outright. REGN and AMGN both have enough franchise breadth that any obesity upside is additive rather than existential, which matters because late-stage obesity programs tend to be long-duration, high-failure assets. That asymmetric setup makes the market more likely to underwrite optionality in the near term while ignoring that multiple shots on goal can re-rate earnings quality over 12-24 months.

The second-order dynamic is capacity and durability, not just efficacy. If AMGN’s dosing convenience holds up in real-world use, it can win share from weekly injectables on adherence alone, especially in patients who churn after the initial weight-loss burst. REGN’s more interesting angle is not only its own candidate, but whether it can leverage its existing commercial footprint to convert clinical progress into faster uptake if obesity prescribing becomes more specialty-driven and less pure primary-care driven.

The main risk is that enthusiasm for obesity pipelines is front-running data that may not separate clearly enough from incumbents to justify premium multiples. Any disappointment on tolerability, muscle loss, or U.S.-specific efficacy could compress these names quickly because the obesity premium is being capitalized today, while revenues from Dupixent, Eylea, Tezspire, and other legacy assets are what actually support the downside. The true catalyst window is months to years, not days: phase 3 initiation, interim readouts, and labeling breadth around diabetes, CV outcomes, and sleep apnea will matter far more than headline weight-loss numbers alone.

Consensus is probably underestimating how much of the equity story is already de-risked by the base businesses. That makes both names better expressed as growth-with-cash-flow compounds than pure obesity punts. If obesity works, upside comes from multiple expansion plus incremental revenue; if it does not, both still have enough operating momentum to avoid the typical binary biotech drawdown.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Long REGN on a 6-12 month horizon: prefer buying on pullbacks versus chasing strength, with the obesity program as free optionality against a still-strong core franchise; risk is if U.S. trial data fails to match ex-China efficacy.
• Long AMGN vs. NVO in a pair trade over 6-18 months: market is paying for incumbent obesity leadership already, while AMGN’s once-monthly convenience and diversified cash flow offer better asymmetry if phase 3 data is acceptable.
• Use REGN call spreads for a catalyst-driven position into phase 3 initiation: upside from obesity and pipeline readthrough is meaningful, but structure should cap premium at risk given binary clinical headlines.
• Hold AMGN as a defensive growth-plus-income compounder; the 3% dividend yield provides downside support while MariTide optionality can re-rate the multiple if real-world adherence data confirms the dosing advantage.
• Avoid sizing obesity exposure as a standalone theme basket; overweight the names where obesity is additive to existing earnings power rather than the sole driver, because that profile should outperform if obesity sentiment cools.