Petrobras, Pétrus and Putos

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What’s wrong with Petrobras?

Petrobras’s Marechal Duque de Caxias floating oil platform. Photo: MISC

Petrobras shares tumbled on Thursday, with ordinary shares plunging 5.5% and preferred shares dropping 3.5%, as investors reacted negatively to the state-controlled oil giant’s earnings report. The company posted a Q4 2024 loss of BRL 17 billion (USD 2.99 billion), bringing its annual net profit to BRL 36 billion — barely more than half of market expectations.

The oil giant’s American Depositary Receipts, US bank-issued certificates representing its shares for trade on American stock exchanges, also crashed by 5.66%

Thumbs down. The company also frustrated investors by announcing BRL 9.1 billion in Q4 dividends, while expectations had hovered around BRL 11 to 17 billion. According to a Citi report to clients, the smaller dividends were what drove the stock crash.

👉 Why it matters. Some analysts are voicing concerns about political interference in Petrobras. In a report, Goldman Sachs noted that the Brazilian government — the company's controlling shareholder — has expressed a desire to use the state-run oil giant to help stimulate economic growth.