Barrick Green Lights Share Buyback After Earnings Buoyed by Higher Gold Price
ABX.TO
Published on 05/11/2026 at 07:07 am EDT
By Robb M. Stewart
Barrick Mining plans to buy back up to $3 billion worth of its shares after logging a jump in earnings in the first three months of the year on the back of the surge in the price of gold.
The Canadian miner's board authorized the share-buyback program to return cash to shareholders at a time when the company said it sees exceptional value in its shares, particularly ahead of the proposed initial public offering of its North American gold assets.
Barrick recorded first-quarter net earnings of $1.6 billion, or 96 cents a share, against $474 million, or 27 cents a share, a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, earnings climbed to 98 cents share whereas analysts polled by FactSet anticipated 81 cents.
Revenue for the quarter jumped 67% to $5.22 billion, topping analyst expectations for roughly $4.8 billion.
Barrick's production of the gold totaled 719,000 troy ounces in the latest quarter, down 17% from the prior quarter and 5.1% below the same period last year, but above the miner's forecast for as much as 680,000 ounces. Gold costs per ounce were up year over year, but the price Barrick achieved for the precious metal was 66% higher.
Production of copper, in demand for electric vehicles and wind- and solar-energy generation, was down 21% on the previous quarter but up 11% on a year prior at 49,000 metric tons. Copper prices realized by Barrick were 28% stronger on average than a year earlier.
The Toronto-based mining company said it is on track to hit its guidance for the year. Gold production for the second quarter is expected to be between 730,000 and 770,000 ounces. And Barrick continues to target between 2.9 million and 3.25 million ounce of gold this year, compared with 3.26 million ounces in 2025, or 3 million stripping out mines that were sold.
Copper output is forecast at 190,000 to 220,000 tons in 2026, versus last year's 220,000 tons.
Barrick has operations and projects in 17 countries and five continents, and ranks as the largest gold producer in the United States.
The company last month selected New York for the primary listing of its prized North American gold operations as it pushes toward an IPO of a minority stake in the new company before the end of the year. The North American business will include Barrick's majority-owned Nevada Gold Mines operation and Pueblo Viejo mine in the Dominican Republic, as well as the Fourmile gold find being developed in Nevada.
President and Chief Executive Mark Hill said the company was focusing this year on a continued improvement in safety, delivering on production and cost guidance, advancing growth projects and executing the North American IPO.
Barrick said its Fourmile project continued to demonstrate its potential to become a standalone top-tier gold asset, and that drilling is set to be expanded throughout the year.
Construction at the company's Lumwana "super pit" expansion in Zambia also is advancing and Barrick said capital expenditure for 2026 is expected to come in at the lower end of the earlier guidance range of $750 million to $850 million, with total project spending expected at $2 billion.
Earlier in April, Barrick said it was slowing work on a massive copper-and-gold project in Pakistan and would continue a review of the development until mid-2027 due to heightened security worries. The Reko Diq project, part of the company's efforts to lean more heavily on copper, had been projected to cost up to $6 billion in the first phase of development, with initial production set for the end of 2028.
Write to Robb M. Stewart at [email protected]
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
05-11-26 0706ET