Shares of office furniture companies Steelcase and Herman Miller rose Thursday after upgrades on both stocks, following their recent earnings reports.

Steelcase shares briefly rose more than 6 percent near $17.50 a share after Raymond James on Thursday upgraded the stock from market perform to a strong buy, and initiated a 12-month target price of $19 a share.

"Despite the challenges facing the office furniture industry, we believe [Steelcase] has the best risk-reward profile of its office furniture peers," Raymond James analyst Budd Bugatch said in a note. "At this point, we believe the negative factors impacting the industry (competitive pricing, and raw material inflation) are well known and reflected in the stock price."

On Tuesday, Steelcase reported fourth-quarter earnings per share that missed, but revenue that beat Reuters estimates.

Separately, Raymond James raised its view on Herman Miller from underperform to market perform. Shares climbed more than 5.5 percent in midday trade.

Bugatch said in a note that the company's earnings per share beat on Wednesday makes the stock more fairly priced. The furniture-maker and designer did report quarterly sales that missed FactSet estimates, however.