YPF shares soared and Burford's after the ruling in favor of Argentina plummeted

The decision of a United States court to rule in favor of Argentina in the trial for the Kirchner expropriation of YPF not only represented economic relief for the country, but also caused movements in the prices of the companies involved.

The measure was adopted by the Court of Appeals of the Second Circuit of New York, which decided to annul a previous ruling that obliged the Argentine State to pay USD 16.1 billion for the takeover of the oil company in 2012.

This ruling, achieved due to the great judicial work carried out by the Government of Javier Milei, thus reverses a first-instance conviction handed down in 2023, within the framework of a judicial process initiated in 2015 by former shareholders of the company.

The reaction of the markets

After the resolution was announced, the reaction in the markets was immediate. Shares of Burford Capital, which had financed the lawsuit against Argentina, plummeted to 40% on Wall Street, trading around $4.90. The company was one of the main potential beneficiaries of the compensation, which had reached $18 billion with interest

.

In contrast, YPF shares registered a strong increase of more than 5%, exceeding USD 46 in their ADR price, which marks a high since January 2025. This behavior reflects the improvement in market expectations regarding the company's financial situation after the elimination of legal risk.

President Javier Milei publicly welcomed the outcome of the ruling. “

We won the YPF trial,” he said in his account on the social network X.

“This implies that Argentina should not pay ANYTHING of the approximately 18 billion dollars today (a little more than the amount of IMF loans in 2024). It is historic, unthinkable, the greatest legal achievement in national history,” he added

.

The litigation had been brought by former shareholders Petersen Energía Inversora and Eton Park, who were demanding compensation for the nationalization of the company during. In the first instance, the U.S. Justice had given rise to that claim, establishing one of the largest economic convictions against the

country.

YPF, Argentina's leading oil and gas company, plays a key role in energy development, especially in the exploitation of Vaca Muerta, considered the world's second unconventional gas reserve and the fourth oil reserve. The evolution of this project is central to the strategy to position the country as a global energy exporter

.

The annulment of the judgment marks a turning point in a case that lasted for almost a decade and that had significant implications both for public finances and for the international perception of legal security in Argentina.