Barrick Gold Corp’s first-quarter results were enough for analysts at Canaccord to keep their faith in the long-term potential of its stock.
The firm reiterated its 'Buy' rating and C$33 price target in a note published Monday.
Last week, Barrick announced that first-quarter 2023 revenue fell to US$2.64 billion from US$2.85 billion a year earlier, while its adjusted earnings per share for the period of $0.14 was down from $0.26.
That beat the Street expectations of $0.11 per share on US$2.5 billion in revenue, according to estimates provided by financial markets data firm Refinitiv.
“Our 'Buy' rating is based on our view of Barrick's high-quality asset portfolio, strong [free cash flow] generation potential, return of capital, and inexpensive valuation, trading at 0.79x [net asset value] vs. its closest peer,” the analysts said.
Importantly, gold and copper production should increase in the second half of 2023, the firm noted.
“Gold production remains weighted to 2H with the ramp-up of the Pueblo Viejo expansion, the completion of major roaster maintenance at Nevada Gold Mines and higher grades at Kibali and Cortez,” analysts said.
“Copper production is expected to increase on higher throughput at Lumwana ... In tandem with 2H-weighted production, unit costs are expected to decrease in the latter half of the year.”
Barrick forecasted full-year 2023 production guidance of 4.2 to 4.6 million ounces of gold and 420 to 470 million pounds of copper.
Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com
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