What goes up must come down. That’s the overly simplistic explanation for what happened to the price of precious metals in early February. The price of and reached all-time highs to reflect the rising spread between supply and demand.
However, it’s important to note what happened next. That is, after a deep pullback, prices stabilized.
What comes next? It’s a fool’s errand to predict when, but the likely direction for each of these metals is higher. That means, it’s not too late to buy into basic materials stocks and particularly the precious metals trade. In fact, this is likely to be a profitable trade for years to come.
Gold and Silver Have Similar Yet Different Bull Cases
The common thread for gold and silver is strong demand and insufficient supply. In the case of each metal, the supply is limited and hard to extract. But each metal also gives investors specific reasons to buy.
In the case of gold, the key point for investors to remember is that central banks continue to buy gold. That’s bearish for the U.S. dollar, and since the U.S. dollar and gold have an inverse relationship, it’s bullish for gold prices. Adding fuel to the bull case is that interest rates are likely to move lower. Once again, that’s bearish for the dollar and therefore bullish for gold.
Silver has a similar case to gold, but it’s also a key metal for several industrial applications, including in the defense sector. The possibility of a war with Iran will only add to the urgent need for silver. And since silver has the same supply-demand imbalance as gold, it’s not hard to see a path for silver to reclaim and surpass recent highs.
The Next Phase of the Trade Is Here
In 2025, investors saw significant demand for physical gold and silver. Towards the end of the year, mining stocks began to be part of a catch-up trade.
But where is that trade at? That depends on where investors believe we are in the physical metals cycle. Many analysts still believe gold will be at $10,000 by the end of the decade. Silver has a similar bullish forecast.
That means we may only be in the first quarter of a four-quarter trading cycle. If that’s the case, then mining stocks are still warming up. This explains why money is beginning to flow into mining stocks. Here are three names that reported earnings the week of Feb. 16.
Offers Scale, Cash Flow and Balance Sheet Strength
Kinross Gold Corp. is emerging as one of the cleaner ways to play the ongoing gold bull market, pairing rising production with a much stronger balance sheet.
In the company’s Q4 2025 earnings report, Kinross Gold reported revenue of about $2 billion and nearly tripled its net earnings year-over-year (YOY), with adjusted EPS of roughly 67 cents. Both of these came on the back of higher realized gold prices and solid cost control.
Full-year production of just over 2 million gold-equivalent ounces met guidance, while free cash flow hit record levels, allowing Kinross to move into a net cash position and support capital returns. With management guiding to a stable 2-million-ounce output through 2028, investors get leveraged upside to higher gold prices with visible volume and cash flow.
As of this writing, KGC stock is up 195% in the last 12 months and 18.8% in 2026, which was supported by solid institutional buying. That’s pushed it near its 52-week high and near the consensus price target of $34.81. However, prior to earnings, several analysts raised their price targets for the stock. That includes the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, which gave KGC stock a $54 price target.
Hecla Mining Provides High-Beta Exposure to Silver’s Upside
gives investors a high-beta way to participate in both the silver and gold trade, with its earnings report confirming that operating leverage to higher metal prices is kicking in. For 2025, Hecla Mining generated record revenue of about $1.4 billion and net income of $321 million, while adjusted EBITDA surged to a record $670 million as silver prices and production moved higher.
Although Hecla mines both gold and silver, it’s becoming more concentrated in silver. In the quarter, the company produced roughly 17 million ounces of silver, which was at the high end of its guidance.
At the same time, Hecla cut its total debt to about $276 million and boosted its cash balance to $242 million. This will improve the company’s financial flexibility heading into what could be a multi-year silver upcycle.
HL stock is up more than 323% in the last 12 months and trades above its consensus price target of $21.63. The stock is down about 14% over the last 30 days, which could reflect institutional selling from the prior quarter.
Pan American Silver Is Positioned for Production-Driven Growth
is one of the world’s largest primary silver producers. In the fourth quarter, the company delivered record revenue of roughly $1.18 billion and record net earnings of $452 million, with adjusted EPS of $1.11 easily beating expectations.
Quarterly attributable production reached 7.3 million ounces of silver and nearly 198,000 ounces of gold, driven in part by standout performance at the Juanicipio mine, which contributed about 2.5 million ounces of silver. With full-year free cash flow above $1.1 billion and management guiding to double-digit silver production growth in 2026, Pan American is well positioned to compound cash returns if silver continues to grind higher.
PAAS stock is up 152% over the last 12 months but 56.9% over the last three months, reflecting its primary focus on silver.
The stock is trading above its consensus price target of $56.60. However, like Kinross Gold, several analysts issued bullish price targets prior to the company’s earnings report on Feb. 18.
