StoneCo CFO Buys $217K in Stock Near 3-Month Low
NEW YORK, May 31 —
On May 15, 2026, StoneCo Ltd. CFO and IR Officer Diego Ventura Salgado opened his brokerage account and bought roughly $217,000 worth of STNE at $9.66 per share. That was a day after Q1 2026 earnings landed, while analysts were still writing post-mortems on a sharp three-month share price slide. The purchase is a discretionary open-market buy, not a routine equity grant or pre-scheduled plan. A CFO spent real money near a multi-month low, and that distinction matters when reading conviction.
- Salgado purchased 22,490 shares across two tranches on May 15, totaling approximately $217,163 at $9.66 per share
- STNE trades at a 0.9x forward P/E as of May 31, at $11.45, against an analyst consensus price target of $17.59
- StoneCo beat EPS consensus in each of the last three reported quarters, with the most recent printing $2.33 versus the $2.05 estimate
Two Tranches, One Signal
The May 15 buying came in two separate Form 4 filings: 11,610 shares at $9.66 for $112,106, then a follow-on 10,880 shares at the same price for $105,057. Together, that rounds to $217,163 out of pocket. Separately, on May 7 — eight days prior — Salgado received 34,235 shares as a routine equity grant alongside 12 other executives and directors. CEO Mateus Scherer Schwening received 185,439 shares in that grant cycle; COO Sandro de Oliveira Bassili received 170,461.
The grant and the open-market purchase are categorically different. Grants cost recipients nothing; they are part of compensation design. Open-market purchases require the insider to spend their own capital at the prevailing price. When a CFO who just received a large grant still goes into the market to buy more, the signal is harder to wave off as mechanical.
The Valuation Case Behind the Buy
StoneCo's current market cap of $2.78 billion compares to trailing twelve-month revenue of $13.54 billion and a gross margin of 73.6%. The company generated $2.31 billion in trailing free cash flow. Put differently: the stock trades at a market cap that is a fraction of annual revenue and roughly in line with a single year of free cash flow. A 0.9x forward P/E implies the market has stopped assigning real growth credit to the business.
Three consecutive earnings beats push back against that indifference. The most recent quarter came in at $2.33 per share against a $2.05 estimate. The two quarters before that: $2.51 versus $2.34, and $2.84 versus $2.65. Consistent beats rule out a pure execution failure, though Brazil macro exposure is a risk the earnings record alone cannot resolve.
Why the Gap Between Price and Target Persists
Analyst consensus targets sit at $17.59 against a current price of $11.45, implying roughly 54% upside on sell-side math. On standard metrics, the stock looks undervalued following the three-month slide. That kind of analyst-to-price gap sometimes reflects slow target revisions in a volatile market; other times it reflects genuine mispricing. The CFO's purchase does not resolve which it is, but it adds a data point from someone with access to the company's internal financials.
What Changes the Thesis
Salgado's $9.66 purchase price is now roughly 16% below the current $11.45 level, so the position is in the money on a mark-to-market basis. The next significant checkpoint is the following quarterly earnings release: a reversal of the beat streak would materially weaken the case. Brazil macro conditions and currency dynamics remain the primary independent risk not captured here. If the stock closes the gap toward consensus targets, the more telling signal will be whether other insiders follow Salgado with open-market purchases of their own.
Run the free StoneCo Ltd. deep-dive →
Basis Report does not hold positions in securities discussed. This is not investment advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did StoneCo's CFO buy stock in May 2026?
CFO Diego Ventura Salgado made two open-market purchases of STNE shares on May 15, 2026, totaling approximately $217,163 at $9.66 per share. The buy came one day after Q1 2026 earnings and separately from routine equity awards the company distributed eight days earlier. Open-market purchases reflect personal conviction using the executive's own capital, distinct from scheduled compensation.
What is StoneCo's forward P/E ratio?
STNE trades at a forward P/E of 0.9x as of May 31, 2026, against a current price of $11.45 and an analyst consensus price target of $17.59. A sub-1x forward P/E implies the market is pricing in a significant earnings decline from current levels, which the company's three-quarter beat streak does not obviously support.
Has StoneCo been beating earnings estimates?
StoneCo has beaten consensus EPS estimates in each of its three most recently reported quarters. The most recent result was $2.33 against a $2.05 estimate, with prior-period beats of $2.51 versus $2.34 and $2.84 versus $2.65. Three consecutive outperformances suggest the sell-side model has been consistently too conservative.
What is StoneCo's free cash flow and market cap?
StoneCo reported trailing twelve-month free cash flow of $2.312 billion against a market capitalization of $2.78 billion as of May 31, 2026, implying a price-to-FCF ratio near 1.2x. The company also reported trailing revenue of $13.54 billion on gross margins of 73.6%.
Is StoneCo stock undervalued right now?
Multiple coverage outlets have characterized STNE as potentially undervalued following recent price weakness, and the quantitative case is notable at a 0.9x forward P/E with $2.3 billion in trailing free cash flow. The key uncertainty the numbers alone cannot resolve is Brazil macro exposure, where currency and interest rate moves can affect results independent of operating performance.