Gold Miner Newmont Mints Some of S&P 500’s Best Returns

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0&&s)if(o){var a,r=(a=e.newCount)>99;s.textContent=r?"99+":a+"",null===(n=s.parentElement)||void 0===n||n.classList.add(Jn)}else s.style.display="block"},f=function(){u.refreshPanel().then(m).then(te).catch((function(){}))};if(e.addEventListener("close-all-menus",(function(){ke(c)||d()})),c){f();var v=setInterval((function(){f()}),3e5);e.onDestroy((function(){clearInterval(v)})),o?l&&l.addEventListener("mouseenter",(function(){p(),null==n||n.show()})):c.addEventListener("mouseenter",(function(){p(),null==n||n.show()})),c.addEventListener("mouseleave",(function(){d(),null==n||n.hide()}))}e.addElementListener(i,"click",(function(){ee("ybar","notification","",{elm:"btn",elmt:"block"===(null==s?void 0:s.style.display)?"newalert":"",subsec:"notification",itc:"1"})})),a&&Se(e,a,"ybar","notification",{elm:"expand",subsec:"notifications",itc:"2"}),e.addElementListener(r,"focusin",(function(){i&&(i.checked=!0),null==r||r.classList.add("ybarMenuOpen")})),e.addElementListener(r,"focusout",d),e.addElementListener(t.tooltipContainer,"focusin",(function(){null==n||n.show()})),e.addElementListener(t.tooltipContainer,"focusout",(function(){null==n||n.hide()}));var y=e.getConfig().device,h=document.getElementById("ybar");h&&h.classList.contains("ybar-ytheme-crunch")&&(io=0);var b=new RegExp("[?&]notifications=1(&|#|$)");"desktop"===y&&i&&b.test(window.location.search)&&(i.checked=!0)};be("ybar-mod-notification",(function(e){var t={isUH3:"crunch"===e.getConfig().ytheme,notifContainer:document.getElementById("notification-container"),notifBadge:document.getElementById("notif-badge"),notifMenu:document.getElementById("ybarNotificationMenu"),notifMenuOpener:document.querySelector("#ybarNotificationMenu + label"),notifDropdown:document.getElementById("notifDropdownContainer"),tooltipContainer:document.querySelector(".".concat(Vn)),notifLabel:document.querySelector(".".concat($n))};t.notifDropdown&&ro(e,t)}))}()}};]]>Sean CraigFri, Aug 29, 2025, 11:30 AM 3 min readPhoto via imageBROKER/Timon Schneider/NewscomPalantir may own the gold medal and Seagate Technology the silver as the S&P 500’s top two performers this year, but the bronze goes to a gold miner. No joke.Shares in Colorado-headquartered Newmont, the world’s largest gold miner, have risen 96% in 2025, the third-best performance on the index after Seagate Technology (up 99%) and top climber Palantir (up 109%). The reason isn’t surprising: In a year of economic uncertainty, safe-haven gold is hovering near record prices. But, as Robert Frost said, “nothing gold can stay,” and forecasts suggest a moderation for gold in the years to come.READ ALSO: AI Wrestles Jobs from Gen Z Workers and US Economy Is Growing More Quickly than Washington RealizedSpot gold rose 0.5% as of late Thursday, lifting the lustrous metal above $3,400 per ounce and nearing a three-week high. Not far off the $3,500 record set in April, gold is up roughly a third in 2025, more than enough to buoy Newmont’s balance sheet. In fact, the company reported $1.7 billion of free cash flow in the second quarter, with revenue rising 21% and profit jumping 99%, all despite Newmont’s gold production falling 8% year-over-year during the three-month period.Earlier this week, Moody’s upgraded the company’s credit rating to A3 from Baa1, something CEO Tom Palmer hailed as a tribute to “the strength of Newmont’s balance sheet and our commitment to a disciplined, balanced approach to capital allocation.” But costs pose a potential short-term handcuff:Newmont’s operating costs have shot up since its $15 billion acquisition of Australia’s Newcrest in 2023, in which it took on a slate of new projects. Its All-In Sustaining Cost (AISC), a measure of mine production and maintenance costs, rose 25% from 2022 to last year, when it hit $1,516 per ounce. That has eroded the company’s ability to maximize earnings from record gold prices.Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that Newmont is considering cost-cutting measures that will likely require terminating thousands of its 22,000 employees. The outlet, citing sources it didn’t identify, said the company aims to cut its AISC by 20%, or $300 per ounce, which would make it competitive with lower-cost rivals.A Glittering Second Half: Newmont said last year that it planned to shed non-core assets, reduce debt and slim its workforce, so the latest developments don’t come as a surprise. Meanwhile, analysts polled by FactSet still expect strong results for the remainder of 2025, with 60% earnings growth on $20.7 billion in sales, representing an 11% year-over-year increase. JPMorgan forecasts that gold will end 2025 at $3,675 per ounce, and some bulls, noting that the metal traditionally rises when interest rates fall, have suggested that $4,000 in 2025 is not out of the question.This post first appeared on The Daily Upside. 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