Here are Thursday's biggest analyst calls of the day: Etsy, Teladoc, GoDaddy, Western Digital & more

Published Thu, Aug 6 20208:41 AM EDT

Key Points

KeyBanc upgraded KB Home to overweight from equal weight.
Barclays downgraded G-III Apparel to underweight from equal weight.
JPMorgan upgraded GoDaddy to overweight from neutral.
Bank of America upgraded Generac to buy from neutral.
Truist upgraded Teladoc to buy from hold.
Roth upgraded Etsy to buy from neutral.
Craig-Hallum downgraded Western Digital to hold from buy.
Truist raised its price target on Square to $210 from $150.

(This story is for CNBC PRO subscribers only.) Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Thursday: KeyBanc upgraded KB Home to overweight from equal weight KeyBanc said in its upgrade of the homebuilder that it sees a "compelling" risk/reward " KBH 's 3Q20 (orders up 17% in June/July) update supports our revised EPS and our selective (not cyclical) rating upgrade (OW, $42 price target). While reticent to chase stocks, higher earnings and implied discount to peers offer a compelling risk to reward near term." JPMorgan upgraded GoDaddy to overweight from neutral JPMorgan upgraded the internet domain registrar company after its strong earnings report and said likes the "strategic changes" that management is making to help growth going forward. "We believe GDDY 's Website + Marketing program is helping them gain share vs. traditional HTML-coded websites (rather than vs. WIX) to complement the strength it is seeing in the domain business in both primary and after-market. Plus, management is making strategic changes like the acquisition of the Neustar registry business that we believe can help growth and margins moving forward. We would not be surprised to also see an entrance into the payments area, like what we believe has propelled Wix's stock, to bolster the doubling in uptake of the GDDY e-commerce offering. Barclays downgraded G-III Apparel to underweight from equal weight Barclays downgraded the clothing apparel company on concerns about the shift to digital from physical channels among other things. "We are moving to an Underweight rating due to the following: 1) secular risk to wholesale demand given reliance on the department store channel; 2) sector-wide inventory overhang, and in the longer term ongoing pressure on inventory productivity due to promotions and competition; 3) shift away from physical brick-and-mortar to digital where GIII has limited ability to meaningfully grow through its own brands; 4) brands that target the Women's apparel categories, which have felt the brunt of sales losses and face weaker prospects for post-COVID recovery; and 5) still nearly 50% exposure to China sourcing." Bank of America upgraded Generac to buy from neutral Bank of America upgraded the backup power generation company and said the stock's valuation won't stop Generac's momentum as hurricane and wildfire season are underway. "As if Generac didn't have enough momentum, Tropical storm Isaias quietly marched up the Eastern seaboard and knocked as many as 4mn homes out of power in a critical GNRC territory. This comes on the back of 30% organic growth in its home standby business in Q2. While shares have already soared to all-time highs, in our view, valuation alone seems unlikely to stop the momentum as we still have the rest of the hurricane and wildfire season ahead, clean energy likely reaccelerates in Q3, and industrial has perhaps bottomed." Truist upgraded Teladoc to buy from hold Truist upgraded the telemedicine company after its merger with Livongo and said it sees a "longer-term paradigm shift" in in healthcare in the coming years. "While COVID has changed the perception and willingness of all stakeholders to adopt and utilize virtual care in some shape or form, resulting in a robust uptake in TDOC 's and LVGO's revenue stream, our upgrade contemplates a longer term paradigm shift that we think increases the durability of growth prospects far beyond the next couple of years." Craig-Hallum downgraded Western Digital to hold from buy Craig-Hallum downgraded the stock after its disappointing earnings report and said the company faces a host of "near-term challenges" and that it sees "limited visibility." "The bad news keeping coming. Last quarter Western Digital suspended its dividend and at the time we noted the new CEO's first earnings conference call lacked enthusiasm as well as confidence regarding the company's business beyond the June quarter. Now, the company faces a host of near-term challenges with a theme of extremely limited visibility. Truist raised its price target on Square to $210 from $150 Truist raised its price target on the mobile payment merchant services aggregator to a Street high and said it sees the company gaining share after the coronavirus crisis passes. "It is our view that Square is the heir apparent to at least US Merchant Acquiring. As a result, it is poised to gain material post-pandemic Seller share, owing to superior software and emerging software and services. Perhaps more important, we think the co's burgeoning Cash App ecosystem is the leading neobank, offering even more upside than Seller." Roth upgraded Etsy to buy from neutral Roth upgraded the e-commerce website after its blowout earnings report and said it sees positive trends continuing well after the coronavirus. "2Q numbers and 3Q guide well-exceeded expectations and COVID trends have continued into 3Q as the halo impact is more persistent than anticipated. With non-mask gross merchandise sales up ~93% y/y and new buyer retention trending positively, we believe these trends are too strong to discount, with incremental catalysts for growth via investment while maintaining healthy margins."

Josh Silverman, CEO of Etsy

Adam Jeffery | CNBC

(This story is for CNBC PRO subscribers only.)

Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Thursday:

KeyBanc upgraded KB Home to overweight from equal weight

KeyBanc said in its upgrade of the homebuilder that it sees a "compelling" risk/reward

"KBH's 3Q20 (orders up 17% in June/July) update supports our revised EPS and our selective (not cyclical) rating upgrade (OW, $42 price target). While reticent to chase stocks, higher earnings and implied discount to peers offer a compelling risk to reward near term."

JPMorgan upgraded GoDaddy to overweight from neutral

JPMorgan upgraded the internet domain registrar company after its strong earnings report and said likes the "strategic changes" that management is making to help growth going forward.

"We believe GDDY's Website + Marketing program is helping them gain share vs. traditional HTML-coded websites (rather than vs. WIX) to complement the strength it is seeing in the domain business in both primary and after-market. Plus, management is making strategic changes like the acquisition of the Neustar registry business that we believe can help growth and margins moving forward. We would not be surprised to also see an entrance into the payments area, like what we believe has propelled Wix's stock, to bolster the doubling in uptake of the GDDY e-commerce offering.