Thursday's analyst calls: Chewy gets an upgrade from Barclays, more Salesforce gains ahead?

(This is CNBC Pro's live coverage of Thursday's analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20 30 minutes to view the latest posts.) Tech and e commerce were in focus Thursday with upgrades to Salesforce and Chewy. Baird raised its rating on Salesforce, citing the company's strong margins.

Barclays, meanwhile, moved to an overweight rating on Chewy, noting the stock is primed for a recovery. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. 5:39 a.m.: Barclays upgrades Chewy, says 'dog days are over' The "dog days are over" for Chewy following a rough patch in 2023, according to Barclays.

Analyst Trevor Young upgraded the e commerce pet products company to overweight from equal weight, citing expectations for resilient demand and a growth trough in 2024. "We think growth inflects in F2H24, and we see upside to consensus in FY25, with incremental upside optionality from vet clinics, int'l and ads," he wrote in a Thursday note.

Shares gained about 4% before the bell. The stock's already lost more than 15% in 2024 and dropped 36.3% in 2023. The bank's fresh price target — adjusted to $30 from $19 — implying more than 50% upside from Wednesday's close. The stock valuation also looks attractive at 15 times 2025 EBITDA, with Young projecting Chewy could post 30% EBITDA growth and upside to consensus over the next few years due to high margin advertising and the scaling of its vet clinic and insurance segments.

While Amazon does pose threats to Chewy as it gains shares in pet categories, Young views the company as relatively insulated from China based Temu. "We see categories such as branded consumables, pharmacy, and specialty pet categories as being at low risk from Temu or other foreign e commerce competitors, as brand loyalty, quality/distribution control requirements, or the niche nature of products make it unlikely for Temu or its merchants to be able to compete in a meaningful way," he said.

— Samantha Subin 5:39 a.m.: Baird upgrades Salesforce Shares of Salesforce were upgraded to outperform from neutral by Baird, which also raised its price target on the cloud computing giant to $300 from $240. The new forecast implies upside of 13%. "We underestimated the company's willingness to deliver margins, which drove strong performance last year," analyst Rob Oliver wrote.

Salesforce shares nearly doubled in 2023 after losing 47.8% in 2022. They were also the best performer in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. CRM 1Y mountain CRM in past year "With current valuation ... near historical lows, top line growth and expectations muted ... we see upside from current levels," Oliver said.

"Price increases, the potential return of front office spend, and crisper sales execution should drive upside." Salesforce were up 1% in the premarket Thursday. — Fred Imbert.