** Shares of shoe and handbag maker Steven Madden SHOO.O up 2.6% at $45.17 premarket
** Needham upgrades stock to "buy" from "hold", raises PT to $50
** New PT represents ~14% upside to stock's last close
** Brokerage says changing fashion trends, with consumers moving away from athleisure and renewed interest in "dress up", "clothes to wear to work" themes, will lift co’s performance in 2026
** Adds SHOO will also benefit from accretion driven by recently acquired Kurt Geiger business
** 6 of 9 brokerages rate stock "buy" or higher, 3 "hold"; median PT is $45 - data compiled by LSEG
** Stock fell ~2% in 2025
(Reporting by Sanskriti Shekhar in Bengaluru )
((Sanskriti.Shekhar@thomsonreuters.com))