Gordon Haskett upgraded its rating on the home improvement retailer's shares to 'Buy' from 'Hold.'

Williams-Sonoma's (WSM) shares climbed more than 1% in premarket trading Thursday, extending Wednesday's nearly 3% gain following a bullish analyst upgrade.

Research firm Gordon Haskett upgrades its rating on the home improvement retailer's shares to 'Buy' from 'Hold,' citing improvement in the market, according to the investor note on The Fly.

The recovery cycle in furniture is "long overdue," with pent-up demand most likely to be released first among higher-income consumers, a group towards which Williams-Sonoma is over-indexed, Gordon Haskett said.

It added that Williams-Sonoma's more positive posture is based on expectations for modest sales improvement during the second quarter, which would "represent the beginning of a potentially multi-year period of industry expansion."

The research firm has a price target of $205, signaling a nearly 12% upside to WSM's last close.

WSM shares have posted gains for six consecutive trading sessions.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment shifted to 'bullish' from 'neutral' the previous day. Despite gains on Wednesday, WSM stock is down nearly 1% year-to-date.

WSM sentiment and message volume as of July 24 | Source: Stocktwits

The retailer posted better-than-expected results last quarter and reiterated its full-year forecast, signaling confidence that sales will comfortably offset the headwinds from tariffs.

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