Vista Energy Stock Jumps After Boosting Vaca Muerta Presence With Petronas Argentina Deal, Retail’s Still Bullish

Vista Energy (VIST) stock rose 10.8% on Wednesday after the company acquired Petronas E&P Argentina in a cash and stock deal.

The company said it would pay $900 million in cash and 7.3 million American depositary shares initially and $300 million in deferred cash payments in two tranches from April 2029.

Petronas Argentina holds a 50% working interest in the La Amarga Chica unconventional concession in the Vaca Muerta shale. YPF, the state-owned Argentine energy company, operates the project.

The shale region is expected to play a key role in Argentine President Javier Milei's ambitions to boost oil and gas exports and cut debt.

According to the Argentine government, during the fourth quarter of 2024, La Amaraga Chica produced 79,543 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) at 100% working interest, of which 71,471 barrels per day (bbl/d) were oil.

"With this acquisition, we gain significant scale in Vaca Muerta with a premium block that has growing production and low operating costs, enabling the acceleration of our long-term plan and strengthening our free-cash flow profile,” said Vista CEO Miguel Galuccio.

Vista said it used its own funds and signed a credit agreement with Banco Santander worth $300 million to finance the deal.

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits declined to the ‘bullish’ (57/100) territory from ‘extremely bullish’(76/100) a day ago, while retail chatter was ‘normal.’

Vista shares have fallen 18.9% year-to-date (YTD).

The company is scheduled to report its quarterly earnings on April 23.

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