Exploring the US bull and bear cases Following the acquisition of Shoe Palace and DTLR, and a strong market performance, the US has grown to represent approximately one-third of JD''s group revenues and net profits. Extrapolating its home market success implies significant growth and margin potential ahead. However, JD is not the market leader and, whilst overall market prospects are attractive, changes such as shift to online and brands'' direct-to-consumer ambitions mean winning is not assured. We raise our target price to 965p (from 920p) and maintain a Neutral rating, but also explore both bull and bear cases. An attractive market but plenty of competition US sportswear has an attractive growth outlook. However, our analysis of market structure shows it is disproportionately dominated by Nike, whilst in multi-brand distribution JD''s market share trails peers. JD is present in multiple banners, which we profile including providing a sneak peek at some of the early findings from Exane''s proprietary US consumer survey. Foot Locker, but also sportswear brands'' own stores, are key competitors. Online, apparel and a space roll-out opportunity JD has multiple opportunities in the US: online sales mix, at c.5%, in recent acquisitions can be lifted substantially and apparel mix is much lower than in the UK. Both could lift gross margins and leverage costs to further lift healthy c.11% US EBIT margins. Beyond conversion of Finish Line stores to the more financially powerful JD banner, our State-level benchmarking also suggests further store roll-out potential. Still, with sportswear brands prioritising their own direct-to-consumer stores and online, JD will need to take share of a shrinking wholesale/ multibrand channel to grow. US opportunity and risks represent a 170p bull-bear valuation sensitivity Following the recent trading update, we increase forecasts materially for the current year but more modestly thereafter. Our outer year EPS...