Key Highlights

  • Kinross Gold shares are trading at $24.07 today, down 12.85%.
  • The company cut its 2026 and 2027 attributable production guidance by 2% to 3% below the low end of prior estimates, citing extreme weather and operational challenges at its La Coipa and Round Mountain mines.
  • Attributable All-In Sustaining Cost guidance was raised to approximately $1,850 to $1,900 per gold equivalent ounce sold.
  • The company is increasing its 2026 return of Capital target to 50% of free Cash Flow from 40%, and has returned more than $1.5 billion to shareholders since early 2025.

Guidance Cut Concentrated at Two Smaller Mines

Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) shares are plunging today after the company cut its 2026 and 2027 attributable production guidance to approximately 1.84 to 1.86 million gold equivalent ounces per year, 2% to 3% below the low end of previously disclosed estimates. The company said the reduction is concentrated at its smaller La Coipa and Round Mountain operations, the result of extreme weather events and operational challenges including lower Mining rates, higher copper grades and lower recoveries than expected.

Cost Guidance Rises as Production Estimates Are Adjusted

Alongside the lower production outlook, Kinross raised its attributable all-in sustaining cost guidance to approximately $1,850 to $1,900 per gold equivalent ounce sold, up from prior estimates. The company said its two largest, lowest-cost operations, Paracatu and Tasiast, continue to perform well and are expected to produce a combined 1.1 million ounces for the fifth consecutive year, in line with previous guidance, and that the revised outlook does not change the quality of the company's broader portfolio.

Capital Returns Increase Despite the Operational Miss

Reflecting its cash flow outlook and Balance Sheet strength, Kinross is increasing its 2026 return of capital target to 50% of free cash flow from 40%, and has returned more than $1.5 billion to shareholders since the first quarter of 2025, including approximately $655 million in share repurchases so far this year. Despite that shareholder-friendly move, investors focused on the operational miss, sending shares to their steepest one-day decline in recent memory. Kinross is a Canadian-based global senior gold mining company with operations in the United States, Brazil, Mauritania, Chile and Canada.