Newmont Corporation (NEM) Down 4.8% — Pull the Plug?
Newmont Corporation (NEM) is retreating this Friday, last changing hands at $108.60 on the NYSE. That is a $5.51 drop from the prior close of $114.11 and one of the sharper single-session declines for the world's largest gold producer in recent months. The selloff extends a pullback that has been building since late summer. NEM now trades roughly 19.7% below its 52-week high of $135.29, set on August 25, 2026, so nearly a fifth of the stock's value has come off the top in about two months.
Turnover is light so far, with about 1.92 million shares traded against a 90-day average of roughly 7.44 million. The session is still open, so that figure will rise. Even so, the decline is happening on volume that remains well short of a typical full day.
Why Newmont Corporation Price is Moving Lower
The lead driver is a broad retreat in gold. Bullion fell to around $4,021 an ounce, down about 2.9% late in U.S. trading, as inflation concerns and rising oil prices pushed the metal back toward the $4,000 level. Gold miners trade as a leveraged expression of the metal, and the selloff spread across the group alongside a round of analyst downgrades. Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (AEM) is down 1.39% today. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX), a copper-heavy producer, is up 0.99%, which suggests the pressure is concentrated in gold rather than in mining broadly.
Newmont's steeper decline relative to Agnico reflects company-specific worries about costs and spending. On October 22, Freedom Broker cut NEM to Hold from Buy and lowered its price target to $116 from $130, citing Australian cost inflation and operational risks at Lihir and Cadia. Those are two of the flagship assets Newmont acquired with Newcrest. On the same day, the company outlined its Red Chris block cave project, carrying an estimated price tag of $4.2 billion to $4.8 billion, with production not targeted until 2033. When the metal price is falling, a multi-billion-dollar commitment that pays off seven years out draws closer scrutiny of Newmont's long-dated capital needs.
The quarter itself was strong, which makes today's move a sentiment and macro story rather than a reaction to weak results. Newmont reported Q3 adjusted EPS of $2.20 against expectations of about $1.95. Revenue was $6.363 billion versus a consensus of roughly $6.24 billion, a 15% increase from $5.524 billion a year earlier. Reported net income climbed to $2.475 billion from $1.832 billion. Management held 2026 production guidance at 5.26 million ounces and improved its full-year cost outlook. Those figures show the business is executing, but investors are weighing them against a softer gold price, cost inflation in Australia, and a heavy capital program ahead.
What is the Newmont Corporation Rating - Should I Sell?
Weiss Ratings assigns NEM a B rating. Current recommendation is Buy. The B rating reflects a company whose operating fundamentals remain among the strongest in the Materials sector, even as the stock absorbs a sharp swing in the gold price. Today's decline is a test of conviction, but it does not undercut the case the rating rests on.
The strength is broad. Newmont is rated Excellent on the Growth Index, and the latest quarter supports that: revenue growth of 15.06%, plus a $640 million year-over-year jump in quarterly net income, shows the company converting record gold prices into earnings at scale. The Excellent Efficiency Index rating is backed by a 25.91% ROE and a 33.36% profit margin. Those are standout returns for a miner, a business that typically struggles with high fixed costs and declining ore grades, and they show the integration of the Newcrest assets is paying off at the bottom line. The Solvency Index is also rated Excellent, meaning the balance sheet can carry projects like Red Chris without straining the company's financial footing. Newmont is rated Excellent on the Total Return Index as well. Despite a nearly 20% pullback from the August high, longer-term holders have been well rewarded by the rally in gold and the stock's re-rating.
Where the picture becomes more nuanced is in the Volatility Index and Dividend Index, both rated Fair. Today's drop of nearly 5% on a 2.9% move in bullion illustrates why the Volatility Index is not rated higher. Newmont's earnings are leveraged to the gold price, and so is its share price, which can swing hard when macro sentiment shifts. The Fair Dividend Index rating reflects a 0.90% yield that offers modest income relative to the company's earnings power. On $7.91 in EPS and a forward P/E of 14.42, the payout is a small part of the shareholder return story.
Within the Materials sector, Newmont (NEM) is on par with Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX, B) and Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (AEM, B), and ranks ahead of The Sherwin-Williams Company (SHW, B-). It trails Southern Copper Corporation (SCCO, B+) and Grupo México, S.A.B. de C.V. (GMBXF, A-). Both carry stronger risk/reward profiles in Weiss's framework, helped by their copper exposure.
About Newmont Corporation
Newmont Corporation (NEM) is a Materials company and the world's largest gold producer. It was founded in 1921 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado. The company explores for, develops, and operates mines that produce gold along with meaningful volumes of copper, silver, zinc, and lead. Its portfolio spans North America, South America, Australia, Africa, and Papua New Guinea. Its 2023 acquisition of Newcrest Mining substantially expanded its footprint in Australia and the Pacific and added significant copper exposure.
Newmont's asset base includes tier-one operations such as Boddington, Tanami, and Cadia in Australia and Lihir in Papua New Guinea. In the Americas it operates Peñasquito in Mexico, Cerro Negro in Argentina, Yanacocha in Peru, and Merian in Suriname, along with Brucejack and Red Chris in British Columbia. It also holds a significant stake in Nevada Gold Mines, its joint venture with Barrick in the world's most prolific gold-producing district, and runs the Ahafo operations in Ghana. Red Chris and Cadia are central to the company's copper strategy, positioning Newmont to benefit from rising demand tied to electrification.
Newmont's competitive advantages come from scale, reserve life, and geographic diversification. Its industry-leading reserve base supports decades of production, and its spread across multiple jurisdictions limits the impact of any single operational or political disruption. Scale also gives the company purchasing leverage and the financial capacity to fund large, long-dated projects that smaller producers cannot undertake. That said, the company remains exposed to cost inflation, labor and energy prices, and the operational complexity of running deep underground and block cave mines.
Investor Outlook
Newmont Corporation (NEM) carries a Weiss Rating of B (Buy). The strong third quarter and improved cost outlook support the fundamental case, but near-term direction will depend heavily on whether gold holds above the $4,000 level. Investors should watch cost trends at Lihir and Cadia, progress on Red Chris capital spending, and whether Newmont meets its 5.26 million-ounce production target for 2026. See full rankings of all B-rated Materials stocks inside the Weiss Stock Screener.
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