Akero Therapeutics (AKRO) stock surged as much as 7.89% in premarket trading on Tuesday, fueled by promising late-stage trial data for its investigational drug efruxifermin and analyst optimism over the drug's potential commercial success.

The company announced positive 96-week results from the Phase 2b SYMMETRY trial, evaluating efruxifermin for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) with compensated cirrhosis. The data showed that 39% of patients treated with the 50mg dose of efruxifermin demonstrated reversal of cirrhosis without worsening of NASH, compared to only 15% in the placebo group.

Following the promising trial readout, multiple analysts raised their price targets and reiterated Buy or Overweight ratings on Akero shares, highlighting efruxifermin's potential to capture a significant share of the NASH market if approved. Notably, Morgan Stanley increased its price target to $96 from $46, citing expectations of commercial success for the drug.