Brad Thomas
Founder & Lead Analyst of Wide Moat Research
Royal Gold is a strong buy because it owns the landlord's position in gold rather than operating the business. It finances miners in exchange for royalties and streams, collecting cash flow while someone else does the hard work, with no labor costs, equipment or environmental liability, just margins. x.comÂ
Gold royalty and streaming companies remain worth adding even with gold far above $3,200-3,700, because their valuations are low versus history and they can still generate alpha even if gold is unexciting over 3-5 years. Silver and rising industrial demand add support. Unlike miners, which are boom-bust, they earn from mines without operating them. Buying Wheaton Precious Metals, Royal Gold, Osisko and Franco-Nevada is on hold after gold's recent jump. x.comÂ
Gold mining stocks are worth owning heavily because the sector is generating extraordinary profits at current metal prices. Per Tavi Costa, gold miners are doing more share buybacks than at any point in history, on a scale never seen before, as a direct result of that profitability. You can't own enough gold stocks in view of what is coming. x.comÂ
Gold miners, unlike gold itself, turn a higher gold price into compounding cash returns. On a path to $8,000 gold, margins would widen far beyond today's roughly $2,400 an ounce even if all-in sustaining costs rose a third to $2,650. Free cash flow per share is at a record of about $15.70, roughly tripled since 2024, and the industry is buying back stock rather than mines, a combination never seen before. Relative to the S&P 500, miners have never been cheaper, not in 2008, 2015 or 2020. x.com … Show more
Franco-Nevada and Royal Gold fit the case for owning hard assets, because the end game is very likely the dollar, along with the pound, the euro and other major fiat currencies, going much lower. Gold, platinum, silver and copper are the assets to hold against that. x.comÂ
Gold miners' record margins and sustained central-bank gold buying support the sector's bullish setup. Average AISC margins reached $3,076/oz in Q1, up 134% year over year, per the World Gold Council; gold remains above $4,100/oz. Central banks bought a record 289 tonnes in Q2. The watched bull-flag trigger for GDX is $89.76. x.comÂ
Gold miners have not yet priced in what record gold prices mean for the sector, and the window to get in is shrinking. Newmont beat Q1 profit estimates even though output fell, showing the gold price tailwind is covering operational shortfalls; earnings should rise further when production normalizes. The majors have pricing power they have not had in years and operating leverage is building, while most investors remain in tech. x.com x.comÂ
Domestic precious-metal miners are favored, because as gold moves into its next leg up, things will get rough in some places and some governments will get greedy. @CandidMacro adds energy supply issues at mines in Mali and probably Australia. Favorites are Coeur Mining, Hecla Mining, Endeavour Silver, Blackrock Silver and FGOVF. x.com x.com x.comÂ
There is no reason to hold gold. x.comÂ
The gap between gold miners and the metal is the trade most are missing. Producers carry operating leverage, central banks haven't stopped buying, and the paper price doesn't set the physical demand curve. @OJRenick spots GDX calls outpacing puts 5:1 as gold tries to break its multi-month downtrend. The gap closes both ways. x.comÂ
Gold miners Agnico Eagle, B2Gold and Newmont are worth buying aggressively because, per Willem Middelkoop (@wmiddelkoop), gold mining shares are dirt cheap again compared with gold. x.comÂ
