Central Puerto S.A.

NYSE:CEPU Stock Report

Market Cap: US$2.4b

Central Puerto Past Earnings Performance

Past criteria checks 4/6

Central Puerto has been growing earnings at an average annual rate of 52.3%, while the Renewable Energy industry saw earnings growing at 13.4% annually. Revenues have been growing at an average rate of 43.9% per year. Central Puerto's return on equity is 13.5%, and it has net margins of 31.6%.

Key information

52.31%

Earnings growth rate

52.65%

EPS growth rate

Renewable Energy Industry Growth-5.84%
Revenue growth rate43.85%
Return on equity13.49%
Net Margin31.56%
Next Earnings Update12 May 2026

Recent past performance updates

Recent updates

Seeking Alpha • May 05

Central Puerto: Expanding Beyond Power Generation

Summary Central Puerto remains a long-term buy, offering exposure to Argentina's expanding energy sector at attractive valuations. CEPU's strategic entry into oil, gas (Vaca Muerta), and mining diversifies its revenue streams and positions it as a comprehensive energy company. 2025 results showed 17% revenue growth to $782M, record net income, and strong cash generation, with leverage at a conservative 0.3x. Moody's upgraded the company's credit rating, projecting EBITDA of $450–$500M and margins of 55–60% over the next 12–18 months. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha
Seeking Alpha • Mar 14

Central Puerto: Energy In Evolution, Looking To The Future

Summary Central Puerto holds over 20% of Argentina's private energy market, with long-term, dollar-denominated contracts ensuring stability, even in volatile macroeconomic conditions. In 2024, achieved a 4% YoY increase in annual EBITDA to $288 million and a 25% growth in sales revenue, reaching $671 million, reflecting solid cash flow and low debt exposure. Under President Milei’s pro-market policies, CEPU benefits from favorable regulations, driving opportunities in energy and sectors like lithium, positioning it for long-term success. The company’s stock shows a growth potential, though macroeconomic risks in Argentina persist, balanced by the stability of dollar-denominated government contracts. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha
Seeking Alpha • Aug 20

Central Puerto: Powering Argentina Sustainably

Summary Central Puerto is a leading energy producer in Argentina, poised for growth with increasing demand for power and a focus on renewable energy sources. The company is betting big on renewables to meet Argentina's energy goals and enhance long-term sustainability, reputation, and business resilience. Milei's free-market policies may lead to fair market pricing for electricity, boosting Central Puerto's profits. Shares are a buy with a price target of $13. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha
Seeking Alpha • Mar 27

Central Puerto Is No Longer An Opportunity Until There Is More Regulatory Clarity

Summary Central Puerto (CEPU) is the largest private energy generator in Argentina with 7 GW of capacity. CEPU has made accretive capacity expansions through acquisitions of assets from companies divesting Argentina exposure. The company faces macroeconomic challenges due to inflationary delays and a slow regulatory framework, making it less attractive at current prices. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha
Seeking Alpha • Dec 09

I'm Getting Off The Central Puerto Train

Summary CEPU is one of the largest electricity generators in Argentina. It now controls 16% of the country's generation capacity. The company has volatile earnings because of the regulatory framework in Argentina, coupled with the country's inflation and currency depreciation. The company is financially sound, and has used excess cash to do some very accretive acquisitions. However, I believe the future is uncertain, and the current stock price already discounts most of the positive developments ahead. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha
Seeking Alpha • Oct 26

Central Puerto: More Risk Than Reward

Summary Central Puerto S.A. is a poor investment choice due to unappealing valuation, deteriorating macroeconomic landscape, and unconvincing acquisitions. The company's vulnerability to the fluctuating Argentine peso and the shaky national economy poses significant risks. Central Puerto's financial performance has shown extreme volatility and lacks clear growth, further impacting its investment potential. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha
Seeking Alpha • Jan 17

Central Puerto Is Still Cheap And A Buy For Me

Summary CEPU is one of the main electricity generators in Argentina. The company's stock climbed 200% since I recommended it in April 2021. However, given my long-term income projections, the company is still trading at cheap valuations. Main risk ahead is a change in the regulatory framework, but I believe this risk to be small. Central Puerto (CEPU) is an Argentinian electricity generation utility. In April 2021 I recommended the company, based on an analysis of its regulatory situation and perspectives. Since then, the stock has returned 215%. In this revision of CEPU's condition, I find that the company's situation has developed as expected: its regulatory environment is neither friendly nor hostile, the company has not invested heavily, it has reduced leverage, and maintained profitability. Despite the company's stock price increasing so much, the company is still cheap compared to my long-term projections of profit from operational sources. These projections do not incorporate any new investment in capacity, nor an additional price increase above inflation or above the rate of currency depreciation. Note: Unless otherwise stated, all information was obtained from CEPU's filings with the SEC. Summary of previous article As always, I recommend readers to revisit my previous article for a detailed description of the company's operations and history. A big player in Argentinian energy: CEPU generates almost 10% of Argentinian electricity. The company has a diversified asset base composed of thermal, hydro and renewables. Regulation is the main profit driver: Argentina has changed its regulatory framework 3 times in the last 10 years. The country has not respected established contracts in the past, and some governments have reduced the utilities' profitability to its minimum. Current regulation is neutral: Although the current regulatory framework is provisional (as the country solves its inflation and debt problems), it has consistently (albeit discretely) updated energy prices so that profits are not eaten away by inflation. Currently, CEPU derives revenues from two sources. Some assets sell to the wholesale market, whose price is fixed by the regulatory agency (updated with some regularity to cover inflation). Other assets sell in long term PPA contracts, at much higher margins. PPA contracts eventually end and the assets start selling in the fixed price market. Hedged against fuel prices: In all of Argentina's regulatory framework, the state company at the center of the wholesale electricity market provides fuel to electricity generators, at its own expense. This reduces CEPU's earnings volatility. Downside scenario limited: The possibility of the current or a future government returning to an anti-profitability framework is low. The reason is that the strategy is now widely criticized as being the reason behind Argentina's lack of electricity supply in the middle of the previous decade. Only a leftist portion of the current government advocates for stricter regulation against utilities. The rest of the political spectrum thinks otherwise. Financially strong: As of 3Q22, CEPU's leverage (assets over equity) stands at 1.44, not extremely high. The company has about $353 million in debts, mostly dollar denominated, $100 million of which mature in the next year, and the rest maturing after 2026. Against these debts, the company holds the equivalent to $326 million in cash and securities (at the official rate), $120 million of which are dollar denominated. On top of that it has a $300 million (dollar denominated) receivable account (the FONINVEMEM account) from which it receives $50 million yearly. Although the company has an exchange rate mismatch (more dollar liabilities than assets), it is currently able to purchase dollars to the Central Bank at the official exchange rate to pay debts. Difficult to understand financials: Argentina sustains an inflation rate close to 100%, and its currency depreciates at a similar step. This generates a lot of accounting noise in CEPU's peso-based financial statements. The exchange rate movements generate profits because the company has a net asset exposure to the dollar. Inflation generates losses because the company also has a net asset exposure to the Argentinian peso. To better understand CEPU's long-term profitability, I translate its operating statements to dollars using the official rate (the one used to pay debts and imports). I then subtract interest expenses in dollars, and then apply a 35% income tax rate to the remaining figure. Recent developments Operating profitability is maintained: The Argentinian government has increased the wholesale electricity market prices more or less in line with inflation. This means CEPU's profitability at the operating level has been sustained, for the most part. The updates are applied bi yearly or yearly, so the company does suffer some inflationary effects. The previous price adjustment was enacted in April 2022, and the next one occurs in January 2023 (120%). A note on operating profits: CEPU considers that the exchange rate effect on its FONINVEMEM receivables is an operating profit. Obviously I do not think the same, and therefore remove that effect from operating income in order to facilitate operational comparisons. The company is not investing: CEPU has invested $5 million for the 9M22 period, compared with depreciation charges of almost $70 million. This is understandable given the lack of a long-term regulatory framework and the lack of regulatory stability in Argentina. However, no investment means no growth at the operational level. Nowhere to put the pesos: Because the FX market is restricted or more expensive for treasury purposes, CEPU is accumulating pesos. With investments strategically out of the table, CEPU has found other uses for those pesos: paying debts when possible (anticipated repayments are restricted), paying a dividend for the first time since going public ($0.16 per ADR), purchasing government bonds and treasuries ($170 million) and purchasing a forestry company for ESG purposes ($70 million) . No framework, no investments, no growth: Without a stable regulatory framework in which CEPU's management trusts, the company will not invest in new generation capacity. The trust part is almost as important as the existence of a long-term framework. The latest LT framework was established in 2017, only to be amended by the same government two years later. This made CEPU's management wary. Without investment in new assets, no new generation capacity is put online, which then means no new operationally-based profitability. I am not a growth by growth itself advocate, and I prefer to look at incremental ROIC rather than growing EPS. However, knowing that the company is not investing, I cannot incorporate growth into my long-term assumptions. Profitability going forward By removing the FX and inflationary effects on financial assets, I concentrate on CEPU's operational profitability by line of business. Conventional business: Currently generating about $440 million in revenues. The addition of a new turbine (Brigadier Lopez steam) and the removal of another one from PPA (Brigadier Lopez gas) should generate a net loss of $23 million in revenue, against $15 million from increased capacity at the T6 terminal. Finally, if the hydro plant Piedra del Aguila's concession is removed by the end of 2023, the company could lose another $40 million. In the optimistic scenario (no PdA removal), with all capacity online, the company should generate about $430 million from conventionals. The operating result of the segment should be around $200 million then. Wind and solar: These assets are much less volatile because they all operate tied to 20 year PPA dollar-denominated contracts. I anticipate $80 million in operating profits from these assets yearly. Interest expenses: CEPU's debt is expensive and tied to LIBOR. I assume a 10% rate to be conservative. Considering the repayment of $100 million in 2023/4, the company should generate $20 million (from a base of $200 million) in interest charges.
Seeking Alpha • Nov 11

Central Puerto reports nine months results

Central Puerto press release (NYSE:CEPU): shows nine months Total income ARS 14.25B

Revenue & Expenses Breakdown

How Central Puerto makes and spends money. Based on latest reported earnings, on an LTM basis.

Earnings and Revenue History

NYSE:CEPU Revenue, expenses and earnings (ARS Millions)
DateRevenueEarningsG+A ExpensesR&D Expenses
31 Dec 251,097,422346,35484,3320
30 Sep 25832,650272,46169,9420
30 Jun 25750,016182,91268,9590
31 Mar 25748,77198,14167,8880
31 Dec 24971,05365,24686,6970
30 Sep 24899,611388,78870,7510
30 Jun 24837,719352,41565,1950
31 Mar 24770,434360,87962,1840
31 Dec 23682,837322,38654,9880
30 Sep 23625,62359,70545,5450
30 Jun 23498,88356,61635,9780
31 Mar 23397,52647,86526,9440
31 Dec 22315,74559,29418,1390
30 Sep 22202,26234,98410,8380
30 Jun 22178,27429,0699,5020
31 Mar 22136,0849,5147,3520
31 Dec 21111,187-1,4466,4120
30 Sep 2189,446-8775,2160
30 Jun 2178,952-2,2834,2170
31 Mar 2163,34410,0803,4220
31 Dec 2057,52110,4032,9900
30 Sep 2058,38411,0782,9450
30 Jun 2055,15613,3062,7800
31 Mar 2051,87911,4992,4280
31 Dec 1948,95711,9922,2700
30 Sep 1939,04411,3981,8170
30 Jun 1934,09011,5981,6280
31 Mar 1928,56016,8251,6350
31 Dec 1821,94526,5261,4300
30 Sep 1818,57327,5621,4000
30 Jun 1814,45022,3091,2180
31 Mar 1811,66415,7611,0160
31 Dec 179,6394,5008280
30 Sep 173,6791,5873800
30 Jun 173,6061,2513500
31 Mar 173,6369943240
31 Dec 163,5631,3313020
30 Sep 164,6732,1273120
30 Jun 164,3472,2443120
31 Mar 163,6281,9122680
31 Dec 152,6541,2102480
30 Sep 153,0526422530
30 Jun 152,1572662070

Quality Earnings: CEPU has a large one-off gain of ARS228.6B impacting its last 12 months of financial results to 31st December, 2025.

Growing Profit Margin: CEPU's current net profit margins (31.6%) are higher than last year (6.7%).

Free Cash Flow vs Earnings Analysis

Past Earnings Growth Analysis

Earnings Trend: CEPU's earnings have grown significantly by 52.3% per year over the past 5 years.

Accelerating Growth: CEPU's earnings growth over the past year (430.8%) exceeds its 5-year average (52.3% per year).

Earnings vs Industry: CEPU earnings growth over the past year (430.8%) exceeded the Renewable Energy industry 0.1%.

Return on Equity

High ROE: CEPU's Return on Equity (13.5%) is considered low.

Return on Assets

Return on Capital Employed

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Company Analysis and Financial Data Status

DataLast Updated (UTC time)
Company Analysis2026/05/07 12:52
End of Day Share Price 2026/05/07 00:00
Earnings2025/12/31
Annual Earnings2025/12/31

Data Sources

The data used in our company analysis is from S&P Global Market Intelligence LLC. The following data is used in our analysis model to generate this report. Data is normalised which can introduce a delay from the source being available.

PackageDataTimeframeExample US Source *
Company Financials10 years
  • Income statement
  • Cash flow statement
  • Balance sheet
Analyst Consensus Estimates+3 years
  • Forecast financials
  • Analyst price targets
Market Prices30 years
  • Stock prices
  • Dividends, Splits and Actions
Ownership10 years
  • Top shareholders
  • Insider trading
Management10 years
  • Leadership team
  • Board of directors
Key Developments10 years
  • Company announcements

* Example for US securities, for non-US equivalent regulatory forms and sources are used.

Unless specified all financial data is based on a yearly period but updated quarterly. This is known as Trailing Twelve Month (TTM) or Last Twelve Month (LTM) Data. Learn more.

Analysis Model and Snowflake

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Industry and Sector Metrics

Our industry and section metrics are calculated every 6 hours by Simply Wall St, details of our process are available on Github.

Analyst Sources

Central Puerto S.A. is covered by 6 analysts. 4 of those analysts submitted the estimates of revenue or earnings used as inputs to our report. Analysts submissions are updated throughout the day.

AnalystInstitution
Matias CattaruzziAdCap Securities Argentina S.A.
Gustavo FariaBofA Global Research
Andres Cardona GómezCitigroup Inc