# How Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras (PBR) compares with the whole market and its popular alternatives

> Source: EasyCompare research, https://easycompare.io/research/pbr
> Data as of October 20, 2026. Total returns include reinvested dividends. Past performance does not predict future results; nothing here is investment advice.

Built by QuantCommons' quantitative engine, this page is about relative opportunity, not data on PBR alone. It places PBR (Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras) against 20+ popular alternatives, its neighboring categories and the entire market of over 10,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, and surfaces what has done better on consistent outperformance, return for the risk taken, behavior in real market crashes and diversification. The result is a clearer view of where PBR stands in the market, and of the alternatives worth a closer look.

Period covered: PBR's full trading record, from August 2000 through September 2026. The crash tests reach back to 2000 using older funds and the S&P 500. All returns include reinvested dividends. Data as of October 20, 2026.

## Key findings

- **Right now:** PBR has run far ahead of the market, rising 45.4% over the past 3 months against 3.9% for the S&P 500 and 3.2% for the Nasdaq 100. After a 26.3% loss from April 2026 to July 2026, PBR has bounced 34.2% off the low.
- **Stock or market?:** More than an industry move: PBR rose 45.4% over the past 3 months, against 16.8% for the integrated oil & gas ETF IXC (iShares Global Energy ETF). The S&P 500 rose 3.9%. Last month cut against the tape: PBR rose 24.6% while the S&P 500 fell 0.6%.
- **Past 1 to 3 years:** Over the past year, PBR rose 140% against 15.8% for the S&P 500 and 17.9% for the Nasdaq 100. The same gap shows up over 3 years (132% against 89.3%). On the flip side, PBR led its integrated oil & gas peers in 2023, then fell behind them in 2025.
- **Long term:** PBR turned $10,000 into $77,400 over the past decade, against $42,100 in the S&P 500. PBR's 10-year return of 674% puts it ahead of 91% of the stocks worth at least $300 million with that much history. The S&P 500 returned 321%.
- **In a crash:** Across six sell-offs, PBR has typically fallen about twice as far as the S&P 500.
- **Diversification:** PBR is a real diversifier: a correlation of 0.13 with the S&P 500 over 5 years and 0.13 with the total US market, less closely than 93% of stocks worth at least $300 million. PBR moves far less with the S&P 500 than it used to, with a correlation of 0.13 over the past 5 years against 0.49 in the 5 years before.
- **Better options**
  - **Popular alternatives:** VLO (Valero Energy) was ahead of PBR in most short and long periods.
  - **Nearby categories and themes:** INSW (International Seaways, oil & gas) earned more than PBR over the past 5 years with similar volatility: 56.5% a year at 40.5% volatility, against 50.3% a year at 37.5%.
  - **Whole market:** Nothing in the whole market did better on both counts: none of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than PBR with less volatility over the past 5 years.

## How much would $10,000 in PBR have grown?

This chart tracks a hypothetical $10,000 investment in PBR over the past 26 years, with dividends reinvested, alongside the same amount in the S&P 500, investments that ended ahead of PBR over the same span and PBR's popular alternatives, among those that traded for the entire period.

- $10,000 invested in PBR at the end of September 2000 would have grown to $178,371 by September 2026, more than the $84,332 it would have become in SPY, an S&P 500 fund.
- Five of the eight other investments on the chart ended ahead of PBR, and VLO finished highest, at $914,106.

## PBR at a glance

This section summarizes the key facts about the stock, its returns over periods from one to ten years and the risk it has carried, with dividends reinvested throughout.

- PBR's deepest decline since it began trading in 2000 was 95.3%, from May 2008 to February 2016. It took about ten years from the low to climb back to its old high.
- Over 25 full calendar years, PBR's best was 2016, when it returned 135%, and its worst was 2008, when it lost 55.6%. It lost money in 11 of those years.
- PBR is 1.1% below its all-time high.

- Type: Stock, Energy (Oil & Gas Integrated)
- Trading since: August 10, 2000
- Market value: $166B
- Volatility (5 years): 37.5%; Sharpe ratio: 1.28
- Worst decline ever: −95.3%, from May 21, 2008 to February 11, 2016; back at its high by March 9, 2026

| Period | PBR total return |
| --- | --- |
| 1 month | +24.6% |
| 3 months | +45.4% |
| 6 months | +31.0% |
| year to date | +128% |
| 1 year | +140% |
| 3 years | +132% |
| 5 years | +667% |
| 10 years | +674% |

## PBR against the whole market

Where PBR ranks among every stock and fund, and what across the market has done better.

### How does PBR rank among all stocks?

This section ranks PBR on return, volatility, risk-adjusted return and worst decline against every stock worth at least $300 million with enough history.

- On return for the risk taken (the Sharpe ratio), PBR ranks in the top 1% of the 2,893 stocks worth at least $300 million.

| Measure | PBR | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1-year return | +140% | 89 of 3,287 (top 3%) |
| 3-year return | +132% | 694 of 3,017 (top 24%) |
| 5-year return | +667% | 45 of 2,893 (top 2%) |
| 10-year return | +674% | 202 of 2,202 (top 10%) |
| Volatility, 5 years | 37.5% | 1,301 of 2,893 (top 45%) |
| Sharpe ratio, 5 years | 1.28 | 13 of 2,893 (top 1%) |
| Worst decline, past 10 years | −75.3% | 1,468 of 2,187 (top 68%) |

### What has beaten PBR on both return and risk?

Each dot is an investment, placed by how much it earned a year over the past 5 years (higher is better) and how much its price swung, its volatility (further left is calmer).

- None of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than PBR over the past 5 years with less volatility: nothing sits in the green region.

### Is there a better investment than PBR?

The table below lists investments that beat PBR over the past 5 years on at least one of these measures: a higher annual return with lower volatility, a higher annual return at similar volatility, a similar return with lower volatility, a higher Sharpe ratio with a smaller worst decline, a higher total return in most periods from 3 months to 10 years, or smaller losses in recent market crashes.

- Among PBR's popular alternatives, VLO was ahead of PBR in most short and long periods.
- Looking beyond its popular alternatives, INSW (oil & gas) earned more than PBR over the past 5 years with similar volatility: 56.5% a year at 40.5% volatility, against 50.3% a year at 37.5%.
- Nothing in the whole market did better on both counts: none of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than PBR with less volatility over the past 5 years.

## PBR against its popular alternatives

The investments people most often weigh against PBR, compared period by period and year by year.

### How do PBR's risk and return compare with its alternatives?

This map plots each investment's annual return over the past 5 years against its volatility, the size of its typical price swings.

- None of the 21 popular alternatives earned more than PBR over the past 5 years with smaller price swings, so every higher return on the map came with a bumpier ride.
- Over the past 5 years, PBR returned 50.3% a year, more than the S&P 500's 12.7%, with higher volatility (37.5% against 17.1%).

### Has PBR consistently beaten its popular alternatives?

This section compares PBR with the investments people most often weigh against it, checking each one over eight periods from one month to ten years.

- Only one of the 21 popular alternatives, VLO, outperformed PBR in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes.
- PBR-A earned more for the risk it took than PBR (a higher Sharpe ratio) and fell less in its worst decline of the past 10 years.

| Investment | 1Y return | 3Y return | 5Y return | 10Y return | Periods ahead of PBR | Verdict | Sharpe |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| PBR: Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras (this page) | +140% | +132% | +667% | +674% |  |  | 1.28 |
| [VLO](https://easycompare.io/research/vlo): Valero Energy Corporation | +176% | +259% | +524% | +1,061% | 3/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term | consistent | 1.18 |
| [PBR-A](https://easycompare.io/research/pbr-a): Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras | +130% | +133% | +705% | +768% | 1/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 1.31 |
| YPF: YPF Sociedad Anónima | +102% | +313% | +971% | +173% | 0/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 1.14 |
| [IMO](https://easycompare.io/research/imo): Imperial Oil Limited | +59.7% | +143% | +337% | +430% | 0/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 1.09 |
| [SU](https://easycompare.io/research/su): Suncor Energy Inc. | +111% | +161% | +318% | +295% | 0/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 1.05 |
| EC: Ecopetrol S.A. | +112% | +116% | +129% | +401% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.63 |
| [CVE](https://easycompare.io/research/cve): Cenovus Energy Inc. | +101% | +76.2% | +225% | +163% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.80 |
| [CNQ](https://easycompare.io/research/cnq): Canadian Natural Resources Limited | +87.7% | +90.4% | +224% | +433% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.89 |
| [EQNR](https://easycompare.io/research/eqnr): Equinor ASA | +107% | +73.2% | +141% | +416% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.69 |
| [COP](https://easycompare.io/research/cop): ConocoPhillips | +72.9% | +28.5% | +131% | +379% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.68 |
| [VALE](https://easycompare.io/research/vale): Vale S.A. | +23.6% | +37.8% | +42.6% | +334% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.38 |
| [CVX](https://easycompare.io/research/cvx): Chevron Corporation | +51.9% | +53.4% | +144% | +238% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.84 |
| [TTE](https://easycompare.io/research/tte): TotalEnergies SE | +55.2% | +60.5% | +129% | +234% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.78 |
| [SHEL](https://easycompare.io/research/shel): Shell plc | +50.3% | +77.1% | +159% | +233% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.90 |
| [XOM](https://easycompare.io/research/xom): Exxonmobil Holdings Corporation | +62.4% | +76.7% | +232% | +214% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 1.04 |
| PBA: Pembina Pipeline Corporation | +39.3% | +91.3% | +90.5% | +172% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.71 |
| [BP](https://easycompare.io/research/bp): BP p.l.c. | +56.3% | +46.5% | +110% | +141% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.66 |
| EWZ: iShares MSCI Brazil ETF | +48.5% | +70.8% | +100% | +90.3% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.64 |
| [OXY](https://easycompare.io/research/oxy): Occidental Petroleum Corporation | +56.4% | +2.0% | +103% | +11.6% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.56 |
| [SLB](https://easycompare.io/research/slb): Slb N.V. | +53.2% | −7.2% | +60.7% | −21.3% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.44 |
| RIG: Transocean Ltd. | +76.9% | −18.7% | +42.0% | −45.0% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.42 |

### How did PBR do year by year?

This table shows each investment's total return in every full calendar year since 2001, along with where PBR ranked among its popular alternatives each year.

- PBR finished ahead of the S&P 500 in 11 of its 25 full calendar years, and behind it in each of the last two.
- Among its popular alternatives, PBA came out ahead of PBR most often, in ten of the 15 years both traded.
- Ranked against its popular alternatives each year, PBR finished in the top quarter in eight of 25 years and in the bottom quarter in eight. In 2025, it ranked 19 of 22.

| Year | PBR | SPY |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2025 | +2.3% | +17.7% |
| 2024 | −2.9% | +24.9% |
| 2023 | +89.6% | +26.2% |
| 2022 | +55.4% | −18.2% |
| 2021 | +19.3% | +28.7% |
| 2020 | −29.0% | +18.3% |
| 2019 | +24.2% | +31.2% |
| 2018 | +27.7% | −4.6% |
| 2017 | +1.8% | +21.7% |
| 2016 | +135% | +12.0% |

## Risk and diversification

How PBR has fallen, how it held up in crashes beside the S&P 500 and its popular alternatives, and what moves independently of it.

### What were PBR's worst declines?

A drawdown is the decline from a peak to the lowest point before a new high.

- In all five of PBR's worst declines, the S&P 500 held up better over the same dates.
- Not every decline was the market's doing: PBR fell 95.3% from May 2008 to February 2016, while the S&P 500 rose 54.4%.
- The slowest recovery came after PBR fell 95.3% from May 2008 to February 2016; it did not regain that peak until March 2026, ten years later.

| Decline | Peak | Low | Back at the high | SPY over the same dates | Market event |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| −95.3% | May 21, 2008 | February 11, 2016 | March 9, 2026 | +54.4% | 2008 financial crisis |
| −68.4% | September 11, 2000 | October 16, 2002 | December 17, 2003 | −40.4% | dot-com bust |
| −34.4% | May 9, 2006 | June 13, 2006 | April 10, 2007 | −7.6% |  |
| −31.0% | April 12, 2004 | May 21, 2004 | September 24, 2004 | −4.4% |  |
| −26.3% | April 30, 2026 | July 1, 2026 | September 10, 2026 | +4.0% |  |

### How did PBR do in stock market crashes?

This section measures how far PBR, the S&P 500 and each alternative fell from peak to trough during every major market crash since 2000.

- PBR fell further than the S&P 500 in eight of the nine crashes it has traded through. The clearest case was the 2015 China and oil sell-off, when PBR fell 54.9% and the S&P 500 fell 12.8%.
- Among its popular alternatives, CVX held up best, falling less than PBR in all nine crashes they both traded through.
- PBR began trading after the dot-com bust, but 13 of its popular alternatives lived through it. The mildest fall among them was IMO's 20.8%, against 47.5% for the S&P 500.

| Crash | Dates | PBR fall | SPY fall |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Dot-com bust | March 10, 2000 to October 9, 2002 | not trading | −47.5% |
| Global financial crisis | October 9, 2007 to March 9, 2009 | −80.1% | −55.2% |
| Flash crash | May 6, 2010 to May 7, 2010 | −1.6% | −1.5% |
| Euro debt crisis | July 22, 2011 to October 3, 2011 | −37.6% | −17.9% |
| China devaluation & oil rout | August 10, 2015 to February 11, 2016 | −54.9% | −12.8% |
| Volmageddon | February 2, 2018 to February 9, 2018 | −8.4% | −6.5% |
| Q4 2018 selloff | September 21, 2018 to December 24, 2018 | −26.3% | −19.3% |
| COVID crash | February 19, 2020 to March 23, 2020 | −71.2% | −33.7% |
| 2022 bear market | January 4, 2022 to October 12, 2022 | −26.6% | −24.5% |
| SVB / regional bank stress | March 8, 2023 to March 13, 2023 | −7.6% | −3.4% |

### How closely does PBR move with the S&P 500?

Upside capture measures how much of the S&P 500's gains an investment kept in the months the market rose, and downside capture how much of its losses it took in the months the market fell.

- Over the past 10 years, PBR captured 104% of the S&P 500's gains in rising months and 63% of its losses in falling months, with a beta of 0.99. Its share of the market's gains was larger than its share of the losses.
- Only PBR-A had a higher capture ratio (upside capture divided by downside capture) than PBR's 1.66, out of 21 popular alternatives with the same record.
- PBR-A took just 54% of the S&P 500's losses, against 63% for PBR, while still keeping 106% of its gains.

Measured over the past 10 years of monthly returns against SPY.

| Investment | Upside capture | Downside capture | Beta |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| PBR: Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras (this page) | 104% | 63.0% | 0.99 |
| [VLO](https://easycompare.io/research/vlo): Valero Energy Corporation | 142% | 114% | 1.31 |
| [PBR-A](https://easycompare.io/research/pbr-a): Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras | 106% | 54.0% | 0.97 |
| YPF: YPF Sociedad Anónima | 144% | 206% | 1.58 |
| [IMO](https://easycompare.io/research/imo): Imperial Oil Limited | 110% | 105% | 1.18 |
| [SU](https://easycompare.io/research/su): Suncor Energy Inc. | 90.0% | 90.0% | 0.96 |
| EC: Ecopetrol S.A. | 127% | 139% | 1.13 |
| [CVE](https://easycompare.io/research/cve): Cenovus Energy Inc. | 124% | 173% | 1.69 |
| [CNQ](https://easycompare.io/research/cnq): Canadian Natural Resources Limited | 110% | 109% | 1.13 |
| [EQNR](https://easycompare.io/research/eqnr): Equinor ASA | 79.0% | 52.0% | 0.62 |
| [COP](https://easycompare.io/research/cop): ConocoPhillips | 94.0% | 92.0% | 0.91 |
| [VALE](https://easycompare.io/research/vale): Vale S.A. | 100% | 88.0% | 0.74 |
| [CVX](https://easycompare.io/research/cvx): Chevron Corporation | 86.0% | 94.0% | 0.89 |
| [TTE](https://easycompare.io/research/tte): TotalEnergies SE | 69.0% | 57.0% | 0.51 |
| [SHEL](https://easycompare.io/research/shel): Shell plc | 60.0% | 43.0% | 0.45 |
| [XOM](https://easycompare.io/research/xom): Exxonmobil Holdings Corporation | 78.0% | 83.0% | 0.76 |
| PBA: Pembina Pipeline Corporation | 79.0% | 92.0% | 1.02 |
| [BP](https://easycompare.io/research/bp): BP p.l.c. | 58.0% | 62.0% | 0.51 |
| EWZ: iShares MSCI Brazil ETF | 69.0% | 95.0% | 0.83 |
| [OXY](https://easycompare.io/research/oxy): Occidental Petroleum Corporation | 80.0% | 155% | 1.24 |
| [SLB](https://easycompare.io/research/slb): Slb N.V. | 104% | 212% | 1.54 |
| RIG: Transocean Ltd. | 149% | 322% | 2.44 |

### What diversifies PBR?

Correlation measures how closely two investments move together, on a scale from 1 (in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to -1 (in opposite directions).

- Moving a fifth of the money in PBR into SMH would have cut the portfolio's volatility by 18% over the past 5 years and raised its annual return (+45.1% for PBR alone, +46.2% for the mix).
- CAH made money in eight of the 11 calendar years in which PBR lost money.
- Among large ETFs, LVHI, DXJ and EMLP have moved largely independently of PBR over the past 5 years, with correlations of 0.39 or lower, and each still earned a positive 5-year return.

| Investment | Correlation with PBR | 5Y return | Volatility | Sharpe | Rose in PBR's 11 down years |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LVHI: Franklin International Low Volatility High Dividend Index ETF | 0.28 | +119% | 11.1% | 1.48 | 1 of 11 |
| DXJ: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | 0.17 | +225% | 19.1% | 1.34 | 6 of 11 |
| EMLP: First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund | 0.39 | +101% | 14.5% | 1.04 | 3 of 11 |
| HDV: iShares Core High Dividend ETF | 0.34 | +83.3% | 13.0% | 1.00 | 4 of 11 |
| [SMH](https://easycompare.io/research/smh): VanEck Semiconductor ETF | 0.01 | +323% | 36.9% | 0.97 | 7 of 11 |
| DBEF: Xtrackers MSCI EAFE Hedged Equity ETF | 0.10 | +85.0% | 13.8% | 0.96 | 6 of 11 |
| [GLD](https://easycompare.io/research/gld): SPDR Gold Shares | -0.05 | +126% | 18.9% | 0.96 | 6 of 11 |
| SPMO: Invesco S&P 500 Momentum ETF | -0.10 | +136% | 20.8% | 0.93 | 2 of 11 |

## Common questions

### What was PBR's worst drawdown?

PBR's deepest decline since it began trading in 2000 was 95.3%, from May 2008 to February 2016. It took about ten years from the low to climb back to its old high.

### What were PBR's best and worst years?

Over 25 full calendar years, PBR's best year was 2016, when it returned 135%. Its worst was 2008, with a return of -55.6%.

### Is there a better investment than PBR?

Among PBR's popular alternatives, VLO was ahead of PBR in most short and long periods. Looking beyond its popular alternatives, INSW (oil & gas) earned more than PBR over the past 5 years with similar volatility: 56.5% a year at 40.5% volatility, against 50.3% a year at 37.5%.

### Is PBR more volatile than the S&P 500?

Yes. PBR's volatility over the past 5 years was 37.5%, 2.2 times the S&P 500's 17.1%. Volatility measures how widely returns swing around their average: in roughly two years out of three, PBR's return lands within 37.5% of its average, either way. The higher it is, the rougher the ride and the harder it is to hold through a slump.

### What is PBR's Sharpe ratio?

PBR's Sharpe ratio over the past 5 years was 1.28, against 0.79 for the S&P 500, so PBR earned more for each unit of risk than an index fund did. The Sharpe ratio is the return earned above cash for each unit of volatility: two investments with the same return are not equal if one got there with far bigger swings.

### How correlated is PBR with the S&P 500?

Over the past 5 years, PBR's monthly returns had a correlation of 0.13 with the S&P 500. Correlation runs from 1 (moving in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to −1 (moving in opposite directions). They are only loosely linked, which makes it a real diversifier next to an index fund. In the table, the correlation column measures each option against PBR instead: the lower it is, the more that option would diversify a PBR holding.

### What are the best alternatives to PBR?

Of the 21 popular alternatives we compared, one outperformed PBR in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes, with dividends reinvested: VLO.

### Did PBR outperform the S&P 500?

PBR finished ahead of the S&P 500 (SPY) in 11 of 25 full calendar years. In 2025, it returned +2.3%, against +17.7% for the index.

### How did PBR do in stock market crashes?

PBR fell less than the S&P 500 (SPY) in none of the nine major crashes it has traded through, and further in eight. The clearest case was the 2015 China and oil sell-off, when PBR fell 54.9% and the S&P 500 fell 12.8%.

### What diversifies PBR?

These had a low correlation with PBR over the past 5 years and still earned a positive 5-year return: among large ETFs, LVHI (correlation 0.28), DXJ (correlation 0.17) and EMLP (correlation 0.39); among large stocks, CAH (correlation 0.18), CLS (correlation 0.06) and FIX (correlation 0.02). A correlation near zero means the two have moved largely independently.

## More research

- [Valero Energy (VLO) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/vlo)
- [Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras (PBR-A) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/pbr-a)
- [Imperial Oil (IMO) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/imo)
- [Suncor Energy (SU) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/su)
- [Cenovus Energy (CVE) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/cve)
- [Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/cnq)
- [Equinor ASA (EQNR) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/eqnr)
- [ConocoPhillips (COP) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/cop)
- [VALE Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/vale)
- [Chevron (CVX) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/cvx)
- [TotalEnergies (TTE) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/tte)
- [Shell (SHEL) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/shel)

## Explore further

- Full page with charts: https://easycompare.io/research/pbr
- All research pages: https://easycompare.io/llms.txt
- Compare the entire market against PBR live: https://betterthanspy.com/?b=PBR&utm_source=easycompare&utm_medium=research