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Gold stocks were among the top gainers in the markets today, with shares of some gold miners even rallying by double-digit percentages throughout the day. Here are some top-performing gold stocks and their intraday highs as of 2 p.m. ET Wednesday.
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Harmony Gold Mining (NYSE: HMY): Up 15.3%
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Iamgold Corp (NYSE: IAG): Up 13.8%
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AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE: AU): Up 11.6%
While these three stocks have a market capitalization under $20 billion each, shares of the second-largest gold company, Newmont Corporation (NYSE: NEM), traded on heavy volumes today and logged an intraday high of 8.8% as of this writing. With a market cap of $52.2 billion, Newmont Corporation is the world's second-largest gold company.
Gold prices were up more than 3% this morning as anxious investors flocked to the yellow metal amid the tariff-induced stock market sell-off. If you're wondering why tariffs are sending gold prices and gold stocks higher, it all boils down to gold's appeal as a safe-haven asset during times of uncertainty.
Why gold stocks are rallying on tariffs
President Donald Trump triggered a trade war last week when he announced reciprocal tariffs on more than 180 countries and followed them up with additional tariffs on nations like China. With China already announcing hefty retaliatory tariffs, investors across the globe fear this could get uglier and trigger a recession.
Gold typically performs well during a recession or even volatile times when stock markets fall, as investors often flock to gold and gold stocks to hedge their portfolios.
Since gold prices directly impact gold miners' top and bottom lines, gold stocks rallied today. Notably, most of today's top-performing gold stocks have delivered strong operational performances lately and are fortifying their balance sheets.
2025 could be a big year for some gold stocks
Harmony Gold, for instance, operates in South Africa, Papua New Guinea, and Australia. Despite a 4% drop in production, Harmony Gold's revenue rose 19%, net income surged 33%, and cash flow from operations (CFO) jumped 46% year over year during the six months ended Dec. 31, 2024. The gold miner also pays a dividend that yields 1.3%.
When it comes to dividends, AngloGold Ashanti is one step ahead, thanks to a new dividend policy under which it is targeting a free-cash-flow (FCF) payout of 50% every year on top of a base annual dividend of $0.50 per share. So, in 2024, it declared a total dividend of $0.91 per share. Outside of the U.S., AngloGold has operations in Africa and Australia. AngloGold's revenue jumped 26% in 2024, driven by higher gold prices, and its cash flows surged as it turned a net profit of $1 billion in the year versus a net loss of $222 million in 2023. AngloGold stock yields a solid 4.1%.