3 Best Mining Stocks Right Now

If you’re no stranger to stock news, you know the markets have experienced a rocky start in 2022. Dipping shares, rampant inflation, interest rate hikes and year-to-date shifts in the most prevalent stock market indexes.

However, certain stocks have been rocket-shipping into oblivion, such as agriculture stocks and oil stocks. In this piece, we’ll focus on mining stocks, another area that is firmly in the “boom” camp in a boom-and-bust cycle. (Check out PwC’s great information about mining trends.)

Let’s go over why you might want to invest in mining stocks and three of the best mining stocks to put on your radar right this minute.

Why Invest in Mining Stocks?

Let’s get this out of the way: As a cyclical sector, mining stocks can add a burst of volatility if you have a buy-and-hold approach. However, if you’re looking for a more resilient stock option within our current higher interest rate environment, mining stocks could be the darling of the debutante ball.

But why? Gold mining stocks can hedge against disaster, weed out uncertainty and fear and bust the weak dollar. The bottom line is that mining stock prices don’t correlate directly to the broader market, which can definitely give you great opportunities.

Companies are looking for new uses for iron and copper and other elements to power technologies and contribute to growth potential. The key is also to find companies with the right financial position that have the ability to ride out ickier economic cycles. 

3 Mining Stocks to Get Your Hands On

Here are some mining stocks you may want to consider. Consider Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., Alcoa Corporation and BHP Group Limited. Let’s dive into the details of each company so you make the best decisions about mining stocks possible.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: CLF)

Cleveland-Cliffs, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, is the largest flat-rolled steel company, and is also the largest iron ore pellet producer in North America. Iron making, steelmaking, rolling, finishing and hot and cold stamping steel parts and components. 

In the full year 2021, consolidated revenues were $20.4 billion, compared to last year’s $5.3 billion. Net income was $3 billion, or $5.36 per diluted share, compared to a 2020 net loss of $81 million, or $0.32 per diluted share.

For the full year 2021, adjusted EBITDA was $5.3 billion, compared to $353 million in 2020.

In Q4 2021, consolidated revenue was $5.3 billion, Q4 consolidated revenues of $2.3 billion from the prior year. In Q4, the company also generated net income of $899 million, or $1.69 per diluted share. This included $47 million of charges, or $0.09 per diluted share. This compares to net income of $74 million, or $0.14 per diluted share in Q4 2020. Q4 2021 adjusted EBITDA was $1.5 billion compared to $286 million in Q4 of 2020.

Alcoa Corporation (NYSE: AA)

Alcoa Corporation, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, produces bauxite, alumina and aluminum products through its bauxite, alumina and aluminum operations. The company engages in bauxite mining operations, processes bauxite into alumina and combines smelting and casting operations to produce primary aluminum. The smelting operations produce molten primary aluminum, including billet, rod, and slab. 

In Q4 2021, Alcoa increased revenue to $3.3 billion, a 7% sequential increase and its highest quarterly result from the fourth quarter of 2018. The company generated $565 million in cash from operations and finished the quarter at $1.9 billion. The company recorded a quarterly net loss of $392 million and loss per share of $2.11. The company realized quarterly records for adjusted net income and adjusted EBITDA and returned capital to stockholders through $150 million in share repurchases and paid the company’s cash dividend of $19 million.

The company posted its highest annual net income of $429 million for the full year, with earnings per share of $2.26. The company generated revenue of $12.2 billion, an increase of 31% from 2020 and the highest since 2018. The company also realized a 140% annual increase in adjusted EBITDA.

BHP Group Limited (NYSE: BHP)

BHP Group Limited, headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, is a resources company in Australia, Europe, China, Japan, India, South Korea, Asia, North America and South America. The company has petroleum, copper, iron ore and coal segments to explore, develop and produce oil and gas properties and mines copper, silver, zinc, molybdenum, uranium, gold, iron ore and metallurgical and energy coal. The company mines, smelts and refines nickel and potash. The company also provides towing, freight, marketing and trading, marketing support, finance,…