CRESY Stock: Insider Activity, Filings & Research
Cresud Sociedad Anónima, Comercial, Inmobiliaria, Financiera y Agropecuaria (CRESY) — Drillr’s hub for CRESY insider activity, SEC filings, earnings signals and AI research. Over the trailing 3 months, CRESY insiders filed 5 open-market buys and 0 sales (SEC Form 4).
CRESY insider trading activity (SEC Form 4)
| Date | Insider | Type | Shares | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 21, 2026 | Zang Sauldirector | Buy | 17,000 | $10.63 |
| May 15, 2026 | ELSZTAIN EDUARDO Sdirector, 10 percent owner: | Buy | 58,595 | $10.57 |
| May 15, 2026 | ELSZTAIN EDUARDO Sdirector, 10 percent owner: | Buy | 8,823 | $10.67 |
| Apr 24, 2026 | Elsztain Alejandro Gustavodirector | Buy | 8,917 | $11.25 |
| Apr 24, 2026 | Elsztain Alejandro Gustavodirector | Buy | 4,458 | $11.20 |
Source: CRESY SEC Form 4 filings, latest May 21, 2026. For informational purposes only — not investment advice.
Cresud Sociedad Anónima, Comercial, Inmobiliaria, Financiera y Agropecuaria company profile
Overview
Cresud Sociedad Anónima (NASDAQ:CRESY) is an Argentine agricultural conglomerate founded in 1936 and publicly traded since 1997. The company operates as one of Latin America's largest integrated agricultural enterprises, with operations spanning across Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Bolivia. Headquartered in Buenos Aires, Cresud has evolved from a traditional farming company into a diversified conglomerate that combines large-scale agricultural production with urban real estate development and investment activities. The company manages extensive farmland holdings across multiple countries and maintains significant stakes in various subsidiaries, including real estate giant IRSA and agricultural technology platforms.
Business
Cresud operates as a diversified conglomerate with two primary business segments that leverage Argentina's position as a major agricultural exporter and the region's growing urbanization trends. The Agricultural Business segment represents the company's core operations and generates approximately 60-70% of total revenues. This segment encompasses large-scale farming operations across four Latin American countries, where Cresud plants, harvests, and sells major agricultural commodities including soybeans, corn, wheat, cotton, sunflower, and sugarcane. The company operates on a massive scale, typically planting over 280,000 hectares annually, with soybeans representing roughly 46% of planted area and corn accounting for 27%. Beyond crop production, this segment includes cattle breeding and fattening operations, grain processing into derivatives like flour and oil, agricultural services provision, farmland leasing to third parties, and strategic farmland development and sales. The company also engages in commodity brokerage activities, capitalizing on its deep market knowledge and relationships. The Urban Properties and Investment Business segment accounts for the remaining 30-40% of revenues and operates primarily through Cresud's majority stake in IRSA, one of Argentina's largest real estate companies. This segment develops, leases, and manages commercial real estate including shopping malls, office buildings, and retail spaces. The portfolio includes hotel operations and entertainment facilities, along with residential and mixed-use development projects like the ambitious 70-hectare Costa Urbana development. The segment also encompasses strategic investments in agricultural technology companies, including Agrofy (an agricultural marketplace valued at $100 million) and FyO (agricultural services), positioning Cresud at the intersection of traditional agriculture and modern agtech innovation.
Revenue model
Cresud generates revenue through multiple complementary business models that capitalize on both agricultural commodity cycles and urban real estate appreciation in Latin America. The agricultural segment primarily operates on a product sales model, selling harvested crops directly to commodity markets, grain processors, and export channels. Revenue fluctuates based on planted acreage, crop yields, and global commodity prices for soybeans, corn, and other agricultural products. The company also generates income through farmland leasing arrangements with third-party operators and strategic farmland sales, particularly in Brazil where liquid land markets allow for capital recycling. Cattle operations contribute through livestock sales to meat processors and auction markets. The urban properties segment operates on a rental income model, collecting lease payments from shopping mall tenants, office building occupants, and hotel operations. This provides more stable, recurring revenue streams compared to the cyclical agricultural business. The segment also generates income through real estate development and sales, including residential and commercial projects. Several factors significantly impact Cresud's profitability margins. Commodity price volatility directly affects agricultural revenues, with soybean and corn prices influenced by global supply-demand dynamics, weather patterns in major producing regions, and trade policies. Weather conditions, particularly droughts, can severely impact crop yields - as demonstrated when Argentine drought reduced expected production from 49 million tons to 35-37 million tons. Currency fluctuations between the Argentine peso, Brazilian real, and US dollar affect both revenues and costs, given the company's multi-country operations and dollar-denominated commodity sales. Argentine government policies, including export taxes, capital controls, and agricultural regulations, can significantly impact profitability. Input costs for seeds, fertilizers, and fuel directly affect agricultural margins, while real estate market conditions in major Argentine cities influence the urban properties segment performance.
Competitive moat
Cresud possesses several competitive advantages, though the strength of its moat varies by business segment and faces meaningful challenges from both structural and cyclical factors. The company's primary moat stems from its scale and geographic diversification across four countries, which provides natural hedging against country-specific weather, political, and economic risks. With over 280,000 hectares under cultivation, Cresud achieves operational efficiencies and negotiating power with suppliers that smaller agricultural operators cannot match. The company's integrated value chain - spanning from farmland ownership through crop production to grain processing and commodity trading - captures margins at multiple levels and reduces dependence on third-party services. Cresud's land bank represents a tangible asset moat, particularly valuable given global farmland scarcity and growing food demand. The company's expertise in identifying, acquiring, developing, and eventually monetizing agricultural land creates a competitive advantage, especially in Brazil's liquid farmland market. The multi-country diversification provides currency hedging and reduces exposure to any single country's political or economic instability. However, the moat faces significant limitations. Agricultural commodity production is inherently cyclical and price-taking, with limited pricing power regardless of scale. The company competes in global commodity markets where differentiation is minimal. Argentine political and economic instability creates ongoing risks, including potential expropriation, export restrictions, and currency controls that have historically impacted operations. Climate change and weather volatility pose increasing risks to agricultural operations that even geographic diversification cannot fully mitigate. The urban real estate segment benefits from IRSA's dominant position in Argentine commercial real estate, but this concentration also creates significant country risk exposure. Competition from agricultural technology companies and changing farming practices could potentially disrupt traditional large-scale agricultural models, though Cresud has positioned itself through investments in agtech platforms like Agrofy and FyO. Overall, Cresud maintains a moderate moat primarily based on scale, diversification, and land ownership, but faces meaningful competitive and structural challenges that limit the durability of these advantages.
Risks & safety
Cresud presents a mixed margin of safety profile with concerning liquidity metrics but reasonable asset backing, though Argentine exposure creates additional risk layers. **Liquidity and Solvency Concerns:** - Current ratio of 1.05 indicates tight short-term liquidity position - Quick ratio of 0.79 suggests potential difficulty meeting immediate obligations without asset sales - Negative free cash flow of -$52 million in most recent quarter raises cash generation concerns - Debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51 indicates high leverage relative to equity base - Operating cash flow turning negative at -$46 million in Q2 2025 **Valuation Metrics:** - Price-to-book ratio of 1.05 suggests reasonable asset backing relative to market value - EV/EBITDA of 63.4x appears extremely elevated, though EBITDA volatility makes this less reliable - Historical P/E ratios have fluctuated dramatically due to earnings volatility - Graham net-net working capital is negative, indicating no traditional value safety margin **Other Considerations:** - Cash position of $92 million provides limited buffer relative to $766 million current liabilities - Asset base of $3.7 billion provides substantial backing, though concentrated in illiquid farmland and Argentine real estate - Argentine economic and political instability creates additional layers of risk beyond traditional financial metrics - Commodity price volatility makes earnings-based valuations less reliable for safety assessment
Recent development
Over the past few years, Cresud has pursued several strategic initiatives aimed at diversifying its revenue streams and positioning itself for long-term growth despite challenging operating conditions. The company has significantly expanded its agricultural technology investments, taking strategic positions in companies that modernize traditional farming operations. Most notably, Cresud invested in Agrofy, an agricultural marketplace platform that raised $29 million and achieved a $100 million valuation, positioning the company at the intersection of traditional agriculture and digital innovation. The company also increased its involvement with FyO, an agricultural services provider that has become a market leader in its segment. Real estate development has emerged as a key growth driver, particularly through the ambitious Costa Urbana project - a 70-hectare mixed-use development that received regulatory approval and is expected to unfold over more than 10 years. This project represents Cresud's strategy to monetize its real estate holdings through large-scale urban development rather than simple land sales. The company has pursued strategic consolidation within its real estate portfolio, completing the merger of IRSA and IRSA Commercial Properties to streamline operations and increase its stake in IRSA to 56.8%. This consolidation provides greater control over urban real estate assets and simplifies the corporate structure. Geographic expansion and optimization has continued, with Cresud maintaining its multi-country agricultural footprint while optimizing operations based on local conditions. The company has been particularly active in Brazilian farmland markets, taking advantage of high liquidity to recycle capital through strategic land sales while maintaining operational scale. Despite facing significant challenges including severe drought conditions in Argentina that reduced expected crop production from 49 million tons to 35-37 million tons, Cresud has maintained its dividend policy, paying a 6% dividend yield and distributing 2.2% of capital stock in shares, demonstrating management's confidence in long-term cash generation capabilities.
CRESY company profile · for informational purposes only — not investment advice.
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