Barrick Mining shares climbed on the S&P/TSX Composite on Monday, November 9, after the company reported a bigger third-quarter profit. Higher gold prices did the heavy lifting, more than making up for slightly lower output than a year earlier. A firm gold market on the day added fuel.

What happened

Barrick (TSX:ABX) released its third-quarter results on Monday. The stock gained roughly a twentieth of its value during the session.

Adjusted net Earnings came in at US$1.35 billion, or US$0.82 a share, up from roughly US$0.58 a share a year earlier. Reported net earnings attributable to shareholders were US$1.32 billion, or US$0.80 a share. Revenue rose to US$5.07 billion.

The company sold gold at an average of US$4,243 an ounce, about US$790 more than a year earlier. That price gap explains most of the jump in profit. The realized price was actually a little lower than in the second quarter, so the gain is a year-over-year story.

Why it matters

The production story was more mixed. Barrick produced 816,000 ounces of gold, up from 796,000 in the second quarter but down from 829,000 a year earlier. The company said output rose year over year once divested mines are stripped out.

Costs rose too. All-in sustaining costs, which capture the full cost of keeping mines running, reached US$1,911 an ounce, up from US$1,538 a year earlier. Copper output slipped to 50,000 tonnes.

Even so, the Margin per ounce widened. Each ounce sold earned about US$2,330 above all-in sustaining costs.

Cash flow was solid. Operating Cash Flow was US$2.49 billion and free cash flow was US$1.17 billion, with US$642 million of that attributable to Barrick shareholders. The Balance Sheet ended the quarter with net cash of about US$0.9 billion, up from US$323 million a year earlier.

Shareholders got a large share of that cash. Barrick bought back US$761 million of its own stock in the quarter under its US$3.0 billion program, and returned US$1.04 billion in total including dividends. It declared a quarterly Dividend of US$0.175 a share, payable December 15 to holders of record on November 30.

The bigger picture

President and CEO Mark Hill framed the quarter as part of a turnaround. "Twelve months ago, we set out to earn back trust and restore Barrick to its history of discipline and excellence," he said in the release, which described a fourth straight quarter of strong operational delivery.

The company kept its 2026 guidance unchanged. It still expects 2.90 million to 3.25 million ounces of gold and 190,000 to 220,000 tonnes of copper. Barrick's guidance assumes gold at US$4,500 an ounce. It estimates that every US$100 change in the gold price moves attributable EBITDA by about US$270 million.

Gold itself helped on Monday. December gold futures rose about US$78 to roughly US$4,153 an ounce. That lifted the whole gold group, and rival Agnico Eagle also posted a strong gain. The broader index rose about 657 points to 36,446.26, its highest close since early September.

What to watch next

Costs are the key question. All-in sustaining costs near US$1,911 sit at the upper end of the full-year range of US$1,760 to US$1,950. Investors will watch whether Barrick can hold that line in the fourth quarter.

Copper is another focus. Output fell from the prior quarter, and the company is counting on copper growth over the coming years.

Finally, the gold price. Barrick's results show how much a strong gold market can cover for flat production. If gold holds above US$4,000, the cash returns can keep flowing. If it slips, rising costs will be harder to hide.