Newmont posts $2.90 EPS, $3.1B FCF
- Newmont said on April 23 that first-quarter adjusted earnings hit $2.90 a share and free cash flow reached a record $3.1 billion. - The giveaway was cost discipline: all-in sustaining costs fell to $1,029 an ounce even as Newmont produced 1.3 million gold ounces. - Gold miners are turning a price rally into cash, then into buybacks — Newmont just added another $6 billion authorization.
Gold mining is a weird business in one important way — when the metal price really runs, the income statement can change fast. That is basically what just happened at Newmont. The company’s first-quarter 2026 numbers were huge: $2.90 in adjusted earnings per share, $3.1 billion in free cash flow, and a fresh $6 billion buyback authorization on top of the cash it was already returning. (newmont.com) ### Why did this quarter matter? Because Newmont is not some tiny high-beta miner catching a lucky break. It is the biggest gold producer in the business, so wh(newmont.com)ins on track for 2026 production guidance. (newmont.com) ### What actually drove the blowout? Mostly gold prices — but not only gold prices. Newmont produced about 1.3 million attributable gold ounces in the quarter, (newmont.com)unces out of the ground. A wider spread is the whole game. (newmont.com) ### Why is free cash flow the number to watch? Because earnings can flatter a miner for all kinds of accounting reasons, but free cash flow is the money left af(newmont.com)ks, debt reduction, and project spending — without asking the market for help. (newmont.com) ### What is Newmont doing with the cash? It is sending a lot of it back out. Since the last earnings call, Newmont said it delivered $2.7 billion of shareholder(newmont.com)acks since the last earnings call. (newmont.com) ### Is this just a Newmont story? Not really. Kinross reported first-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.71 a share and record attributable free cash flow of $837.5(newmont.com) to miner cash generation across the board. (kinross.com) ### So was gold really that strong? Yes. By late April, spot gold was still trading around the mid-$4,500s per ounce after hitting an all-time high above $5,500 in January 2026. That pullback sounds dramatic, but for miners it still leaves an enormous cushion versus production costs near the low-$1,000s or mid-$1,700s, depending on the company. (capital.com) ### What is the catch? The catch is that miners never get a perfect quarter for long. Reuters noted that Newmont beat profit estimates as record gold prices offset lower production, but the company also warned that the current quarter could bring slightly lower output and higher costs. In mining, grades move, sites get disrupted, and energy and labor can bite back fast. (msn.com) ### Bottom line This quarter showed what gold miners look like when the metal price is doing the heavy lifting and operations do not get in the way. Newmont turned that setup into record cash, then immediately turned the cash into a bigger promise to shareholders. I(msn.com)turning into returns. (newmont.com)
