Berenberg says weakness in JD Sports looks 'overdone'

For starters, trading by US peers had already flagged weakness in that country, as reflected in a 15% drop in JD shares going into the announcement.

Indeed, the fact that management remained very comfortable with guidance and the consensus forecasts was proof of its "conservatism".

And the shares had been left trading on a price-to-earnings multiple of only 9.4 or 7.5 times its cash.

"This weakness looks overdone, pricing in significant downgrades that, we believe, will not materialise," they said in a research note sent to clients.

"JD is too cheap for the quality and double-digit compounding growth on offer, with a huge global growth opportunity not fairly reflected in valuation."

Their recommendation stayed at 'buy' and their target price was unchanged at 210.0p.