Why Investors Are Waiting for These Updates from Agnico Eagle Mines

While Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM) delivered consistently strong operational results in 2017, its stock performance has lagged behind the gold miners’ benchmark index (GDX). AEM stock rose 10.0% in 2017, compared with the 12.8% gain seen by the SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) and the 11.1% return seen by the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX).

Agnico Eagle Mines has delivered better-than-expected results year-to-date. Its consistent operational performance and upside potential in terms of strong pipelines and exploration could be encouraging for investors.

On December 21, 2017, Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM) announced that it has agreed to purchase Yamana Gold’s (AUY) 50% stake in the exploration assets of Canadian Malartic or CMC for $162.5 million.

CMC is 50-50-owned and operated by Agnico and Yamana. This deal will give Agnico 100% ownership of CMC upon the close of the deal, and it’s expected to enhance the long-term development pipeline of AEM.

Agnico Eagle Mines has one of the strongest project pipelines in the industry (GDX) (NUGT). Its major projects in Nunavut were advancing on time and on budget, according to the company’s report in its 3Q17 results. Attentive investors will likely be looking forward to any update on this by the company.

Newmont Mining (NEM) also has a strong project pipeline, and Kinross Gold’s (KGC) Tasiast Expansion could provide an upside to its medium-term production. Yamana Gold’s (AUY) Cerro Moro has turned out to be a game changer for the company and could drive its production significantly higher.

Barrick Gold (ABX), on the other hand, is focusing on value over volume and will likely face a declining production profile over the medium term.

In the next part, we’ll look at New Gold’s (NGD) 4Q17 expectations.