- Petrobras (PBR +8.6%) is downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at J.P. Morgan, which says many challenges remain despite management having taken "necessary and adequate" steps to resolve the financial challenges facing the company.
- JPM analyst Marcos Severine compares current sentiment on the stock to the 1980 boxing match between Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Durán when the latter threw in the towel, saying “no más, no más" - Severine also is saying "no más," because of a "never-seen combination of macro conditions - very low Brent prices and sizeable FX devaluation - followed by limited access to the debt market."
- Severine says PBR is facing ongoing constraints in accessing the debt market with the stock now downgraded to junk, and thinks PBR will have to announce additional measures to further curb its cash needs in 2016-19.