Analyst Downgrades: McDonald's Corporation, Barclays PLC (ADR), and Deutsche Bank AG (USA)

Analysts are weighing in on blue-chip stock McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD), as well as European bank stocks Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS) and Deutsche Bank AG (USA) (NYSE:DB). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on MCD, BCS, and DB.

• MCD is down 2% at $117.04, as many stocks prepare to face "Brexit"-inspired headwinds. Credit Suisse slashed MCD's price target to $130 from $135, and lowered its sales and earnings estimates, citing "recent U.S. franchisee checks and potential fallout from the Brexit decision." Still, the brokerage firm maintained its "outperform" rating, noting that "MCD tends to hold up better than most in a choppy environment." The stock now sits in negative year-to-date territory. Short interest in the stock is surging, up 146.4% over the last two reporting periods, and option bears are also hot on McDonald's Corporation, with MCD's 10-day put/call volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) of 2.28 sitting higher than 90% of all other readings from the past year.

• BCS is down 23.4% at $6.81 -- a new eight-year low -- as European banking stocks continue to take it on the chin after last week's "Brexit" vote, and BCS lives up to its "lose in June" legacy. Barclays PLC (ADR) has received no fewer than four price-target cuts in the past 24 hours, with some brokerage firms calling for a U.K. recession on the horizon, and at least seven price-target cuts since the "Brexit" decision was announced. Today, BofA-Merrill Lynch downgraded Barclays to "neutral" from "buy," several analysts issued downgrades to the London-based shares of BCS, and Citigroup said U.K. banks are one of the most exposed sectors to "Brexit." BCS is down over 60% year-over-year, and short interest has surged 24.7% over the last reporting period. Option bears are more interested in the stock than usual, with BCS's 10-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX put/call open interest ratio of 1.52 sitting in the 77th percentile of its annual range.

• DB is down 7.5% at $13.62 – an all-time low for the stock -- as the financial sector struggles in the wake of "Brexit." Germany-based Deutsche Bank AG (USA) was downgraded to "neutral" from "overweight" by J.P. Morgan Securities, with the analysts citing post-"Brexit" macro uncertainty. DB has also been hit with no fewer than four price-target cuts since the "Brexit" results were announced. There's likely a good number of short sellers celebrating, with short interest up 18.2% in the past two reporting periods, and 1.4% of the stock's float sold short -- an amount that would take six days of trading, at DB's average daily volume, to cover.