Wheaton Precious Metals WPM reported adjusted earnings per share of 34 cents in third-quarter 2024, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The bottom line increased 32.7% year over year.
Including one-time items, WPM reported earnings per share of 34 cents compared with earnings of 26 cents in the third quarter of 2023.
Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.
WPM’s Q3 Revenues Gain on Higher Prices
Wheaton Precious generated revenues of around $308 million in the quarter, which rose 38.1% on a year-over-year basis. The year-over-year increase was attributed to higher average realized gold equivalent price and higher gold equivalent ounces (GEOs) sold in the quarter. The top line, however, missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $325 million.
Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. Quote
In third-quarter 2024, the average realized gold price was $2,491 per ounce. The figure was 28.1% higher than the year-ago quarter. Silver prices were $29.71 per ounce in the reported quarter, up 25.2% year over year. Palladium prices were $969 per ounce, down 23% from $1,251 per ounce in the prior-year quarter. Cobalt prices fell 23.2% year over year to $10.65 per pound.
Wheaton Precious’ Q3 GEOs Rise 10%
Attributable gold production in the quarter was 87,199 ounces, down 17% from the prior-year quarter’s output of 105,027 ounces. The figure beat our gold production projection of 77,539 ounces for the quarter.
Attributable silver production rose 34.1% year over year to 4,554 ounces in the quarter. Production lagged our silver production estimate of 4,674 ounces.
The company sold 122,715 GEOs in the quarter, up 9.6% year over year. It produced 144,164 GEOs compared with 147,278 GEOs in the third quarter of 2023.
WPM’s Margins Rise Y/Y in Q3
The total cost of sales rose 15.2% year over year to around $111 million in the reported quarter. The gross profit was up 55.6% to $197 million. The gross margin was 64% in the reported quarter compared with 56.9% in the prior-year quarter.
General and administrative expenses increased 10.2% year over year to $9.5 million. Earnings from operations in the quarter under review was $176 million, a 56.8% increase from $112 million in the third quarter of 2023.
Average cash costs in the third quarter of 2024 were $437 per GEO, down from $445 in the year-ago quarter. The cash operating margin increased 34% year over year to $2,075 per GEO sold due to a higher realized price per ounce.
Wheaton Precious’ Q3 Financial Position
Wheaton Precious had around $694 million of cash in hand at the end of the third quarter of 2024 compared with $547 million at the end of 2023. It reported an operating cash flow of $254 million in the quarter under review compared with $171 million in the prior-year quarter.
WPM had a debt-free balance sheet as of Sept. 30, 2024. The company has a $2-billion undrawn revolving credit facility.
WPM’s 2024 Outlook
Wheaton Precious projects an attributable production of 550,000-620,000 GEOs. Gold production is expected to be 325,000-370,000 ounces. Silver production is projected between 18.5 million and 20.5 million ounces. The production of other metals is anticipated to be 12,000-15,000 GEOs. WPM produced 12,275 GEOs of other metals in 2023.
Wheaton Precious’ Price Performance
WPM shares have gained 51.8% in the past year compared with the industry’s 6% growth.
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WPM’s Zacks Rank
Wheaton Precious currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Wheaton Precious’ Peer Performances
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.’s CLF third-quarter 2024 adjusted loss was 33 cents per share. This compared unfavorably with adjusted earnings of 54 cents in the prior-year quarter. The loss per share was wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 31 cents.
CLF’s revenues fell 18.5% year over year to $4,569 million in the quarter. The top line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4,754.4 million.
Reliance, Inc. RS reported third quarter 2024 earnings of $3.64 per share , down from $5.00 a year ago. Its earnings lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.69.
RS recorded net sales of $3,420.3 million, down around 6% year over year. The top line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3,409.3 million. RS benefited from higher shipments amid headwinds from weaker metals pricing in the quarter.
Teck Resources Ltd TECK posted third-quarter 2024 earnings of 44 cents per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 36 cents. This compared unfavorably to earnings of 57 cents a year ago.
TECK’s revenues were $2.1 billion for the quarter ended September 2024, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.2 billion. The company had reported revenues of $2.7 billion in the year-ago quarter.
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