Noting that Morgan Stanley's European Brands analyst Elena Mariani believes the market is underestimating the cyclicality of Adidas' (ADDYY) business and downgraded the stock this morning to Underweight, Morgan Stanley analyst Lauren Cassel said she believes Adidas' recent slowdown can be directly linked to Nike's (NKE) aggressive comeback and "impressive innovation pipeline." Should Adidas face increasing sales pressure, Cassel would expect much of its share loss to be captured by Nike, she tells investors. The firm's Asia apparel/footwear OEMs analyst's channel checks suggest Adidas' footwear orders have been very volatile of late, which might reflect weakening end-demand. Meanwhile, the channel checks suggest the opposite for Nike, as they point to strong, consistent orders, Cassel said. She keeps an Overweight rating and $103 price target on Nike shares.