Berenberg says investors' fears around JD Sports 'overdone'

Indeed, they pointed out how the sports fashion retailer's "typically cautious" management team had recently raised guidance for a third time year-to-date.

"These fears look overdone, creating a compelling buying opportunity," they said.

But according to the analysts, JD Sports would need to deliver on three fronts: " prove its strength and resilience, announce a high calibre CEO and leverage its strong balance sheet to deliver on M&A opportunities."

The prize if successful could be a more than doubling in the share price, they said.

Even so, analysts Graham Renwick and Samuel Perry cut their target price for the shares from 285.0p to 200.0p, although they pointed out that still implied about 60% upside for the shares.

"JD Sports remains our top pick in consumer discretionary."