Last Friday delivered some of the most violent price action in recent memory and easily the most extreme I have seen in precious metals. After a powerful rally through last year and a strong start to 2026, plunged roughly 11% in a single session, while collapsed more than 30%, ranking among the worst single-day selloffs in their respective histories.
And yet, despite the severity of the move, both metals still finished January solidly higher. Gold ended the month up more than 9%, silver gained roughly 11%, and both have already started February with renewed strength.
That context matters. Sharp selloffs in precious metals often cause investors to reach for historical analogs—episodes where sudden declines marked intermediate or even long-term tops. I do not believe that framework applies here. There was no fundamental shock, no macro regime change, and no material news catalyst behind the move.
By all indications, this was month-end profit taking colliding with an overextended, practically vertical uptrend. In other words, positioning and flows drove the selloff, not a deterioration in the underlying drivers of the precious metals bull market. From that perspective, the pullback looks far more like a reset than a reversal.
For investors looking to gain exposure, there are several paths. Physical metals and ETFs offer direct participation, but gold mining stocks often provide leveraged upside to rising metal prices, albeit with higher volatility. Notably, the Zacks Rank has been dominated by top-ranked gold miners for months, reflecting strong earnings revisions and sustained momentum.
Today, three names stand out in particular: Gold Fields (NYSE:), AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:), and New Gold (NYSE:). Each combines a top Zacks Rank with strong earnings growth expectations and powerful price trends. Below, we revisit why gold remains in a structural bull market and examine the data behind these three standout opportunities.
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The Persistent Bull Market in Gold and Precious Metals Stock
Gold’s bull market has been both durable and widely underappreciated. Over the past couple decades, gold has effectively matched the performance of US equity markets and outperformed more recently, a fact that went largely unnoticed as institutions and policymakers dismissed the metal as a non-productive or outdated asset. In an era dominated by growth equities, private credit, and alternative strategies, gold was viewed as unnecessary.
That perception has changed materially. Gold’s role as a core portfolio diversifier has reasserted itself, particularly as volatility, geopolitical risk, and policy uncertainty have become persistent rather than episodic. Unlike most financial assets, gold carries no counterparty risk and has served as a store of value since the earliest civilizations. In periods of systemic stress or regime transition, that characteristic matters more than yield optimization or short-term return maximization.
A major inflection point came in the aftermath of the Russia–Ukraine conflict, when the freezing of Russian sovereign reserves fundamentally altered how central banks think about reserve assets. The message was clear: assets held within the Western financial system are ultimately political. In response, central bank gold purchases surged to multi-decade highs. That steady, price insensitive demand then pulled large institutional investors back into the space, reinforcing gold’s upward momentum.
Importantly, this bull market is not yet crowded. While retail participation has increased internationally, US retail investors, the wealthiest cohort globally, remain largely underexposed to gold and precious metals equities. That gap, among other things, suggests significant room for incremental demand. Meanwhile, profound political and economic regime shifts continue to unfold worldwide: rising fiscal dominance, rearmament, deglobalization, currency experimentation, and heightened geopolitical fragmentation. These forces are not receding, but intensifying. As long as that remains the case, the structural case for higher gold prices remains firmly intact.
Gold Mining Stocks on the Move Again
The market response to last week’s sharp pullback has been decisive. Investors appear eager to buy the dip, with gold and the mining stocks highlighted here all rebounding sharply—each up more than 6% on the day as of this writing. That price action reinforces the view that the recent selloff was technical in nature rather than a shift in sentiment toward the precious-metals complex. Just as important, the rebound is being confirmed by fundamentals, particularly through rapid upward revisions to earnings expectations.
New Gold: The stock carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), with earnings estimates surging 60% for the upcoming quarter and 15% for next year. On a full year basis, earnings are projected to grow roughly 200% this year and another 111% next year. Because of that explosive growth outlook, the stock trades at just 7.9x forward earnings.
AngloGold Ashanti: Holds a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and has seen similarly dramatic estimate revisions. Consensus expectations for next quarter have jumped 96% over the past month, while next year’s estimates are up 34%. Earnings are forecast to grow 154% this year and 53% next year, and the stock trades at about 11x forward earnings.
Gold Fields Limited: A steadier but equally attractive setup. Earnings are expected to grow at an annualized rate of roughly 51% over the next three to five years. At just 9.6x forward earnings, the stock sports a PEG ratio near 0.19, signaling a deep discount relative to its growth trajectory. GFI also boasts a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) rating.
Should Investors Buy Shares in AU, GFI and NGD?
One important caveat is worth noting is that very low forward multiples are common in cyclical industries like commodities. As prices rise and earnings expectations surge, valuation metrics can compress rapidly, sometimes giving a misleading impression of cheapness near cycle peaks. That dynamic is real, and it should be respected when analyzing miners.
That said, there is still limited evidence that gold or gold equities are at, or even near, a cyclical top. Positioning remains uneven, US retail participation is modest, and institutional exposure is still rebuilding rather than unwinding. At the same time, the macro forces underpinning higher gold prices remain firmly in place.
Against that backdrop, the combination of strong price momentum, aggressive earnings revisions, and historically low valuations makes AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields Limited, and New Gold attractive vehicles for investors looking to gain leveraged exposure to an ongoing gold bull market. While volatility should be expected, current conditions still favor viewing recent weakness as an opportunity rather than a warning.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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