Hays downgraded to Underperform from Hold at Jefferies

Jefferies downgraded Hays (HAYPF) to Underperform from Hold with a price target of 44 GBp, down from 61 GBp. Investors have been asking through 2025 if it was time to buy the European Business and Employment Services sector as top line was bottoming out, but the firm thinks “this time is different” as cyclical headwinds are exacerbated with incremental structural challenges, which it argues should keep earnings “lower for longer.”