Barrick throws $3B at its own stock

New quarter, new flex

Barrick came out swinging on Monday, authorizing a US$3 billion share buyback after a first quarter that basically said, “gold is hot and so are we.” The miner nearly tripled free cash flow year over year, to US$1.21 billion, giving management a very expensive-looking permission slip to start buying back its own stock.

Why the market cares

This wasn’t just a vanity project. Barrick said Q1 gold production hit 719,000 ounces, comfortably above its guidance range of 640,000 to 680,000 ounces. Revenue jumped 67% to US$5.22 billion, while all-in sustaining costs for gold slid to US$1,708 per ounce. In other words: more gold, less pain, more cash.

That combo matters because buybacks tend to show up when a company thinks its shares are cheap, its balance sheet is healthy, or both. Barrick appears to be checking the “flush with cash” box after strong results from Nevada Gold Mines, Veladero, and an accelerated ramp at Loulo-Gounkoto.

The bigger picture

The company also kept full-year guidance steady, which is Wall Street code for “we’re not getting ahead of ourselves.” Barrick still sees 2.9 million to 3.25 million ounces of gold production in 2026 and expects sequential production gains as the year goes on.

• Copper production also rose 11% to 49,000 metric tons
• The North American IPO is still targeted to close by the end of 2026
• Higher copper costs took a bite, but gold is still doing the heavy lifting here

Big picture: Barrick is turning a strong quarter into a shareholder-return story, and the buyback is the shiny new headline investors will latch onto.