We recently compiled a list of the 12 Best Booming Stocks to Invest in Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) stands against other best booming stocks to invest in now.

The U.S. stock market closed on a downbeat on Friday, January 31, as investors grappled with the announcement that President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on major trading partners would take effect the following day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 0.75%, to close at 44,544.66 and the S&P 500 shed 0.50% to close at 6,040.53, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.28% to 19,627.44. However, the day marked the end of a tumultuous January for traders with the three major averages still managing to post monthly gains. The S&P 500 rose 2.7%, the Nasdaq advanced 1.6%, and the Dow surged 4.7%.

Economic data released on Friday also influenced market sentiment. The December data for the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, which is the preferred inflation gauge of the Federal Reserve, showed an increase of 0.3% from November and a 2.6% annual rate. While this yearly advance was in line with economists’ expectations, it marked an acceleration from the prior month’s annual rate of 2.4% and raised concerns that inflation remains sticky.

Tom Hainlin, a senior investment strategist at U.S. Bank Asset Management Group, noted that the market’s initial reaction to the tariff news was to sell, much like the reaction to the DeepSeek AI developments earlier in the week. Trump will be imposing a 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico, alongside a 10% duty on China. However, Hainlin explained that there are no details about tariffs, whether they are temporary or permanent, or what the potential responses from Canada, Mexico, or China might be.

READ ALSO: 12 Most Promising Green Stocks According to Hedge Funds and 10 Worst Performing Energy Stocks in 2024.

In an interview with CNBC on January 22, Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO at JPMorgan Chase, discussed a range of economic and political issues, including market conditions, the impact of a strong dollar, and the broader economic policies of the United States. Dimon began by addressing that the current state of the U.S. stock market is elevated and stocks trading at a historic price-to-earnings ratio. Dimon believes that the stock prices must be justified by strong growth and there is a need for good outcomes to sustain these levels.

Dimon suggested that the strength of the dollar is an outcome of broader economic factors and that a strong dollar can have its benefits but it can also have negative effects, especially for international companies dealing with tariffs and trade tensions. However, Dimon downplayed the significance of the strong dollar, stating that it is less important than many people think and that the most crucial factor remains economic growth.

Dimon further discussed the challenges of implementing growth strategies, emphasizing that while many recognize the need for change, the real challenge lies in execution. He also addressed the geopolitical issues with Ukraine, Iran, Russia, North Korea, and China, expressing that these issues can affect the world in the long term. He noted that while tariffs are a significant topic of discussion, they are just a tool in a broader economics and national security strategy. Overall, Dimon is cautiously optimistic about the economy and highlighted concerns about government spending, potential inflation, and the global economic landscape.

While the market appears overvalued and faces significant headwinds, some stocks are performing exceptionally well and hold significant potential.

Our Methodology

To compile our list of the 12 best booming stocks to invest in now, we used Finviz and Yahoo stock screeners to identify the 30 largest companies whose stock prices have increased by at least 35% year-to-date as of January 30. We then used Insider Monkey’s Hedge Fund database to rank 12 stocks according to the largest number of hedge fund holders, as of Q3 2024. The list is sorted in ascending order of hedge fund sentiment.

Why do we care about what hedge funds do? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).

Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO)

Number of Hedge Fund Holdings: 30

Year-to-Date Performance as of January 30: 98.99%

Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) is a biotechnology company developing treatments for metabolic diseases. The company’s lead candidate, efruxifermin, has demonstrated promising results in reducing liver fat and fibrosis.

Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) has seen a significant surge in its stock price year to date, driven primarily by a series of positive developments including the release of compelling clinical data from its Phase 2b SYMMETRY study. On January 27, the company announced topline results from the study, which evaluated the efficacy and safety of its lead candidate, efruxifermin (EFX), in patients with biopsy-confirmed compensated cirrhosis (F4) due to MASH. The data showed that at week 96, 39% of patients treated with 50mg EFX experienced a reversal of cirrhosis with no worsening of MASH, compared to only 15% in the placebo group. This significant improvement in patient outcomes was a major catalyst for the stock’s 115% increase in early trading on the same day.

In addition to the impressive efficacy data, the safety profile of efruxifermin was also a key factor in boosting investor confidence. The drug was reported to be generally well-tolerated, with no deaths in the EFX arm. The most frequent adverse events were mild to moderate and gastrointestinal in nature, which is a common and manageable side effect in this patient population. This positive safety profile is crucial for a drug targeting a chronic and severe condition like MASH, as it increases the likelihood of regulatory approval and broad adoption by healthcare providers.

The success of the Phase 2b SYMMETRY study has paved the way for Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) to advance efruxifermin into Phase 3 development. The company is already enrolling patients for this next phase of clinical trials, which is a critical step in bringing the drug closer to market.

Overall AKRO ranks 7th on our list of the best booming stocks to invest in now. While we acknowledge the potential of AKRO as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than AKRO but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.