** Clothing retailer Go Fashion (India) GOFA.NS rises 3% to 884.45 rupees

** Motilal Oswal initiates coverage of stock with "Buy", price target at 1,127 rupees, implying a ~27.5% upside to current price

** Says, GOFA is the market leader in women's bottom-wear segment

** Motilal says GOFA's sharp direct-to-consumer strategy of retailing via its own brand outlets gives it complete control over merchandising, pricing and customer experience

** Says, in a structurally underserved category like bottomwear, Go Fashion has domain expertise and brand recall

** Motilal expects 16% revenue CAGR over FY25-FY28, with 20% profit after tax CAGR over the same period

** Stock rated 'strong buy' on avg by 7 analysts; median PT of 1,000 rupees - LSEG

** With session's gains, stock trims YTD decline to ~6.7%

(Reporting by Ananta Agarwal in Bengaluru)

((Ananta.Agarwal@thomsonreuters.com))