São Paulo, May 17, 2026, 17:04 (BRT)
- Bradesco preferred shares finished Friday at R$17.69, sliding 0.84% on the day. The shares dropped 4.84% over the past five sessions.
- The Ibovespa dropped 0.61% Friday and slid 3.71% on the week.
- Bradesco’s first-quarter bounce is holding up, but credit risk, political worries and high rates are back on the table.
Bradesco preferred shares slipped 4.84% over the past week, closing at R$17.69 on Friday. BBDC4 shares struggled as Brazil’s Ibovespa benchmark also slid, losing 0.61% on Friday to finish at 177,283.83 points, down 3.71% for the week.
No session on Sunday. B3’s Bovespa market in São Paulo trades Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:55 p.m. local. Investors have to wait for Monday’s open to see if last week’s selling will keep going.
Timing is key right now. Bradesco’s latest earnings point to progress on its turnaround, but shares are coming up against a soft index, messy politics, and new worries about loan quality at Brazilian banks.
Bradesco posted a 16.1% rise in first-quarter recurring net income to R$6.8 billion. Total revenue rose 14% to R$36.9 billion. Return on average equity was up at 15.8%. The bank’s cost-to-income ratio improved to 46.9%.
Bradesco CEO Marcelo Noronha told investors on the May 7 call that the bank is taking a careful approach. “We have clearly expressed our moderate appetite,” he said. Noronha said Bradesco will keep growing its loan book but might skip some deals, depending on rating, segment or client group. He also expects net interest income, or NII — earnings after funding costs — to continue rising. MarketScreener
Bradesco’s loan book hit about R$1.09 trillion, up 8.4% from last year, but the lender flagged credit concerns. Loans overdue by more than 90 days were at 4.2%. Credit costs rose in the quarter, with Bradesco citing large corporate cases and old rural credit.
XP Investimentos is still cautious on the rally. Analysts Bernardo Guttmann, Matheus Guimarães and Guilherme Meneghetti said Bradesco has “executed better than we initially expected” and seems more resilient now, but they kept a neutral rating and a R$24 year-end target. They pointed to tougher macro conditions, more competition, and higher tech spending as reasons for fewer easy gains. XP Investimentos
Banco do Brasil shares were choppy after the lender posted an adjusted net profit down 54% for the first quarter on Wednesday, cut its 2026 net-income outlook and reported an 86% jump in credit costs from last year. Bradesco was the only one to top estimates among Banco do Brasil, Itaú, Santander Brasil and Bradesco, according to Reuters.
Rates still weigh on the outlook. Brazil’s central bank lowered its Selic rate to 14.50% on April 29, but conditions are far from loose. Banco Inter chief economist Rafaela Vitoria told Reuters policy stays “quite restrictive” despite small cuts. Reuters
Politics kept traders cautious. Brazilian markets dropped Wednesday after Reuters reported claims of links between Senator Flávio Bolsonaro and ex-Banco Master owner Daniel Vorcaro, which some traders said brought new uncertainty to the tight presidential contest. Trading Economics noted domestic political news and global inflation fears both hit the Ibovespa at Friday’s close.
Bradesco’s risk is straightforward. The bank depends on keeping credit costs in check and on secured lending to support areas pressured in the rural and small-business segments. Any slide in the real, higher oil, another bump in market rates or new political trouble would push up funding costs for banks, and then borrowers would feel it.
Tape looks cautious for now, not panicked. Bradesco is still posting profit growth and the quarter shows fewer issues than some other banks. But where BBDC4 trades on Monday could hinge more on if Brazil’s market finds its footing after last week’s slide than on what Bradesco itself reported.
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