Oppenheimer downgrades Jefferies Financial as M&A rebound likely delayed

As previously reported, Oppenheimer analyst Chris Kotowski downgraded Jefferies Financial (JEF) to Perform from Outperform. Coming into this year, the firm was very optimistic about a major rebound in M&A activity. There is, however, thus far no visible sign of this M&A rebound, with announced M&A up just 2.4% year-to-date and ECM 2.7%, Oppenheimer argues. Moreover, the firm fears that the current uncertainty over tariffs, a fiscal “detox” and the general upheaval of 80 years of trade and security arrangements is likely to cause a pause in M&A activity.