◆ Inside the Latest Quarter (Q2 2026)

Barrick Mining (B) — the variant view

An 8% lower gold price took 24% off earnings in a quarter when production rose 11%: the leverage a price-taker cannot escape.

📈 B valuation, revenue & earnings — P/E, P/S, revenue, EPS →

Barrick's second quarter of 2026, reported on 11 August, shows the operating leverage running the other way. Revenue was $5,292 million, up 44% on a year earlier but only 1% on the first quarter, and net earnings attributable to shareholders fell 24% from the first quarter to $1,217 million, or $0.73 a share1. The realized gold price fell 8% to $4,417 an ounce while all-in sustaining cost rose 9% to $1,8662. A gold price down eight percent took a quarter off earnings: the same leverage that made the first quarter look spectacular.

Q1 against Q2 2026 ($m)$5,218mRevenue Q1$5,292mRevenue Q2$1,602mNet earnings Q1$1,217mNet earnings Q2$1,575mFree cashflow Q1$515mFree cashflow Q2Barrick Q2 2026 MD&A (Form 6-K)
Revenue flat, earnings down a quarter, free cash flow down two-thirds.

Production was better. Attributable gold output rose 11% on the first quarter to 796,000 ounces, helped by Loulo-Gounkoto ramping up ahead of schedule after Barrick regained control of it in December 2025; copper output was 56,000 tonnes3.

Cash was the weak line. Operating cash flow was $1,704 million against $2,554 million in the first quarter, and free cash flow $515 million against $1,575 million, as capital spending rose to $1,189 million4. Barrick bought back $1,209 million of its shares in the quarter under the $3 billion programme approved in May5, more than twice the quarter's free cash flow, and net cash fell from $2,405 million to $1,245 million6.

The structural news came after the quarter ended. On 9 August Barrick agreed with Newmont to put Fourmile, and Newmont's Mike and Fiberline projects, into Nevada Gold Mines; Newmont pays Barrick $1.95 billion in cash, and the agreement resolves all outstanding disputes over the joint venture7. North American Barrick, holding Carlin, Cortez, Turquoise Ridge and Pueblo Viejo, is to list in New York with a secondary listing in Toronto, with the IPO expected by the end of 2026 and Mark Hill as its chief executive8.

The quarter settles the argument these pages make about Barrick. The mines are good and are running better; the result is still decided by a price Barrick does not set. The number to watch is the realized price less all-in sustaining cost: $2,551 an ounce in the second quarter, against $3,115 in the first9. If that spread keeps narrowing while the buyback continues, the balance sheet will carry the difference.

References
  1. ReportedRevenue was $5,292 million, up 44% on a year earlier but only 1% on the first quarter, and net earnings attributable to shareholders fell 24% from the first quarter to $1,217 million, or $0.73 a share.
    Barrick second quarter 2026 MD&A (SEC Form 6-K exhibit 99.2) - Loulo-Gounkoto: operations suspended from January 2025, control regained on 16 December 2025 after the dispute with the Government of Mali was resolved, including adoption of the 2023 Mining Code; ramp-up ahead of schedule; revenue, production, costs and cash flow for Q2 and H1 2026 — Q2 2026 · publ. 2026-08-11 · source ↗
  2. ReportedThe realized gold price fell 8% to $4,417 an ounce while all-in sustaining cost rose 9% to $1,866.
    Barrick second quarter 2026 MD&A (SEC Form 6-K exhibit 99.2) - Loulo-Gounkoto: operations suspended from January 2025, control regained on 16 December 2025 after the dispute with the Government of Mali was resolved, including adoption of the 2023 Mining Code; ramp-up ahead of schedule; revenue, production, costs and cash flow for Q2 and H1 2026 — Q2 2026 · publ. 2026-08-11 · source ↗
  3. ReportedAttributable gold output rose 11% on the first quarter to 796,000 ounces, helped by Loulo-Gounkoto ramping up ahead of schedule after Barrick regained control of it in December 2025; copper output was 56,000 tonnes.
    Barrick second quarter 2026 MD&A (SEC Form 6-K exhibit 99.2) - Loulo-Gounkoto: operations suspended from January 2025, control regained on 16 December 2025 after the dispute with the Government of Mali was resolved, including adoption of the 2023 Mining Code; ramp-up ahead of schedule; revenue, production, costs and cash flow for Q2 and H1 2026 — Q2 2026 · publ. 2026-08-11 · source ↗
  4. ReportedOperating cash flow was $1,704 million against $2,554 million in the first quarter, and free cash flow $515 million against $1,575 million, as capital spending rose to $1,189 million.
    Barrick second quarter 2026 MD&A (SEC Form 6-K exhibit 99.2) - Loulo-Gounkoto: operations suspended from January 2025, control regained on 16 December 2025 after the dispute with the Government of Mali was resolved, including adoption of the 2023 Mining Code; ramp-up ahead of schedule; revenue, production, costs and cash flow for Q2 and H1 2026 — Q2 2026 · publ. 2026-08-11 · source ↗
  5. ReportedBarrick bought back $1,209 million of its shares in the quarter under the $3 billion programme approved in May, more than twice the quarter's free cash flow, and net cash fell from $2,405 million to $1,245 million.
    Barrick second quarter 2026 MD&A (SEC Form 6-K exhibit 99.2) - Loulo-Gounkoto: operations suspended from January 2025, control regained on 16 December 2025 after the dispute with the Government of Mali was resolved, including adoption of the 2023 Mining Code; ramp-up ahead of schedule; revenue, production, costs and cash flow for Q2 and H1 2026 — Q2 2026 · publ. 2026-08-11 · source ↗
  6. ReportedBarrick bought back $1,209 million of its shares in the quarter under the $3 billion programme approved in May, more than twice the quarter's free cash flow, and net cash fell from $2,405 million to $1,245 million.
    Barrick second quarter 2026 MD&A (SEC Form 6-K exhibit 99.2) - Loulo-Gounkoto: operations suspended from January 2025, control regained on 16 December 2025 after the dispute with the Government of Mali was resolved, including adoption of the 2023 Mining Code; ramp-up ahead of schedule; revenue, production, costs and cash flow for Q2 and H1 2026 — Q2 2026 · publ. 2026-08-11 · source ↗
  7. ReportedOn 9 August Barrick agreed with Newmont to put Fourmile, and Newmont's Mike and Fiberline projects, into Nevada Gold Mines; Newmont pays Barrick $1.95 billion in cash, and the agreement resolves all outstanding disputes over the joint venture.
    Barrick second quarter 2026 MD&A (SEC Form 6-K exhibit 99.2) - Loulo-Gounkoto: operations suspended from January 2025, control regained on 16 December 2025 after the dispute with the Government of Mali was resolved, including adoption of the 2023 Mining Code; ramp-up ahead of schedule; revenue, production, costs and cash flow for Q2 and H1 2026 — Q2 2026 · publ. 2026-08-11 · source ↗
  8. ReportedNorth American Barrick, holding Carlin, Cortez, Turquoise Ridge and Pueblo Viejo, is to list in New York with a secondary listing in Toronto, with the IPO expected by the end of 2026 and Mark Hill as its chief executive.
    Barrick second quarter 2026 MD&A (SEC Form 6-K exhibit 99.2) - Loulo-Gounkoto: operations suspended from January 2025, control regained on 16 December 2025 after the dispute with the Government of Mali was resolved, including adoption of the 2023 Mining Code; ramp-up ahead of schedule; revenue, production, costs and cash flow for Q2 and H1 2026 — Q2 2026 · publ. 2026-08-11 · source ↗
  9. Moat Explorer calcThe number to watch is the realized price less all-in sustaining cost: $2,551 an ounce in the second quarter, against $3,115 in the first.
    Moat Explorer calculation from Barrick's Q2 2026 MD&A: realized gold price less gold all-in sustaining cost ($4,417 - $1,866 in Q2 2026; $4,823 - $1,708 in Q1 2026) — Q1-Q2 2026 · publ. 2026-09-23 · source ↗
    Method: Q2: $4,417 - $1,866; Q1: $4,823 - $1,708 (Q2 2026 MD&A)
Sources
Generated September 23, 2026