This Wall Street analyst call makes no sense

Etsy exploded to $30 per share on Thursday, its first day of trading as a public company. That's 87% above its IPO price of $16.

In a research note published late on Thursday, Wedbush analysts Gil Luria and Aaron Turner reiterated that they were "Neutral" on the stock. In other words, don't "Buy" but also don't "Sell."

It's a somewhat wishy-washy call. But, this is commonplace in research, and the message is somewhat clear.

However, what's indefensible about their call is that they have a $14.00 12-month price target on the stock. In other words, they expect the share price to fall by more than half within a year.

You'd think that would be reason to recommend selling the stock.

"We maintain our Neutral rating and $14 price target, but will revisit our rating if shares continue to trade at these out-of-range multiples," they wrote.

It's kind of a mixed message.

Luria and Turner can expect a few phone calls from their clients today.