The World's Largest Gold Miner Is Still Printing Cash.

Research Desk · October 22, 2026

Newmont corporate logo, used for editorial identification.

It has been a rough few weeks for anyone looking for a safe place to stand.

Chip stocks just went through their longest losing streak since 2008. Treasury yields have climbed to levels not seen in more than two decades. A hotter-than-expected inflation report has traders betting the Fed's next move could be a hike, not a cut.

Even gold, the traditional shelter, has cooled. After touching a record near $5,590 an ounce in January, it now trades around $4,100.

That pullback has dragged down the shares of Newmont, the world's largest gold miner. The stock fell to about $112 last week, roughly 18% below its 52-week high, before recovering toward $118.

Tonight, after the closing bell, Newmont reports its third quarter. And the numbers tell a very different story than the headlines about gold.

Why a Gold Miner Makes More Than Gold Itself

To understand Newmont, think of a farmer with a large orchard. Most of the costs are fixed: the land, the equipment, the crew, the irrigation. They do not change much whether apples sell for $1 a pound or $3.

So when apple prices triple, the farmer's profit does not just triple. It can jump tenfold, because almost all of the extra money falls straight to the bottom line.

Gold mining works the same way. Newmont's all-in sustaining cost, the full price of digging out and processing an ounce, runs about $1,680 this year.

Back in 2019, gold sold for roughly $1,400 and the industry's best miners kept only a few hundred dollars per ounce. Today, even after the pullback, Newmont keeps roughly $2,400 on every ounce it sells.

That is why gold can fall 25% from its peak and Newmont can still be one of the most profitable businesses in the market.

Record Cash, and Fewer Shares to Share It With

In the first six months of 2026, Newmont produced a record $5.3 billion of free cash flow. That is the cash left over after paying for every mine, every truck, and every new project.

Second-quarter earnings came in at $2.10 a share, beating estimates. The company has now topped Wall Street's earnings forecast in seven of its last eight quarters.

Management has been handing much of that cash back. Newmont has returned about $4.6 billion through dividends and buybacks this year, and has retired more than 100 million shares, about 9% of the company, over two years.

Another $6 billion of buybacks is already approved. For a long-term holder, that matters: every share retired means each remaining share owns a larger slice of the mines and the cash they produce.

The dividend yields about 1%, modest on its own. But management has said its capital-return framework could support a higher quarterly payout at its next annual review.

The Blemish Worth Naming

Honesty requires pointing out that 2026 is what management itself calls a "trough year" for production.

Newmont expects to mine about 5.3 million ounces this year, down from roughly 5.9 million in 2025. At the same time, its cost per ounce has risen from about $1,358 last year to roughly $1,680, driven by higher royalties and fuel.

There was also an operational setback. Seismic activity disrupted part of the underground operation at Cadia, one of its flagship mines in Australia. Investors will be listening tonight for an update on that recovery.

None of these problems is fatal. But they mean Newmont is earning more per ounce while selling fewer ounces, and that combination leaves less room for error if gold keeps sliding.

What the Price Tag Looks Like Now

At about $118, Newmont trades near 15 times trailing earnings. That is a modest multiple for a company producing this much cash, and well below what investors are paying for most of the market's large technology names.

Wall Street is broadly positive. Of 23 analysts tracked by Investing.com, 20 rate the stock a Buy. The average price target sits near $137, with UBS and RBC both at $155.

The bear case has a number attached, and it is tied to gold. If the metal fell another 20%, to around $3,300 an ounce, Newmont's margin per ounce would shrink by about a third.

In that scenario, the stock's 52-week low of about $76, roughly 35% below today's price, is the level a buyer should be prepared to see.

The Bottom Line

Many investors own gold for protection. Fewer own the business that turns gold in the ground into cash in the bank.

Newmont is that business, at the largest scale in the world. Even with gold well off its record, it is keeping roughly $2,400 an ounce, buying back its own shares, and paying a dividend management says it can raise.

Tonight's report will show how well it is holding up through a weaker gold market. For a retirement portfolio leaning heavily on technology, a cash-rich gold producer at 15 times earnings is a different kind of insurance policy.