Jefferies analyst Alexander Slagle upgraded Papa John's International (PZZA) to Buy and raised his price target for the shares to $58 from $52.

The stock, down 50% from highs, now reflects the likelihood that fundamentals will get worse before improving, Slagle tells investors in a research note. After reviewing the company's potential path to recovery and possible strategic actions that could create shareholder value, the analyst has a bull case of $75 per share.

He thinks this outweighs the bear case, or downside risk, of $35 per share. Papa John's closed yesterday down 10c to $41.96.