For much of Thursday, Estee Lauder (NYSE: EL) stock was trading in positive territory. This was due in no small part to a recommendation upgrade from an analyst piggybacking on several recent key pieces of news from the company, accompanied by a significant price target bump. Ultimately, the storied cosmetics company's stock closed in negative territory, but only marginally, while the equally well-established S&P 500 index sank by 0.9%.

That upgrade came from Piper Sandler's Korinne Wolfmeyer, who before market open moved her Estee Lauder recommendation up one peg, from neutral to overweight (buy, in other words). Wolfmeyer also significantly beefed up her target price on the stock, from $95 per share to $114.

The move comes several days after Estee Lauder reported its fiscal fourth quarter of 2024 earnings. Although it topped the consensus analyst estimate for revenue and crushed that for net income, the company's fiscal-year 2025 bottom-line guidance fell well short of the average pundit projection.

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Source Fool.com