Pokemon Go Craze Befuddles Analysts at Big Investment Banks

Take Bank of America Corp.’s Hiroyasu Eguchi. He cut his rating on the stock in April and lowered his price target on July 6 -- one day before Pokemon Go debuted in the U.S and shares began a tear that more than doubled their price over two weeks. Eguchi reversed course this week: On Monday, he upgraded the stock to a buy rating and set a price target that’s almost double the current level.

He isn’t the only one playing catch up. One week prior to Pokemon Go’s release, Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co.’s Hirotoshi Murakami cut his Nintendo price target to the lowest since April 2015. After the stock soared, Murakami backtracked and now expects shares to climb 71 percent from Tuesday’s close.