Southern Copper Q3 2026 earnings: record profit as copper prices surge
Southern Copper beat profit and sales expectations in Q3 2026, powered by high copper prices, even as production shifted between its Mexican and Peruvian mines.
| Q3 2026 | Reported | Expected | Surprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| EPS | $2.15 | $2.07 | +3.8% |
| Revenue | $4.70B | $4.59B | +2.3% |
Figures as reported by the company to the SEC for the quarter ended September 30, 2026. Analyst estimates are not part of a filing, so no comparison to expectations is shown.
Key takeaways
- Both profit and sales came in above what analysts had been expecting for the quarter, with net income attributable to the company jumping roughly 63% from a year earlier to about $1.8 billion — a quarterly record for the miner.
- The main driver was simple: higher copper prices. Copper traded well above year-ago levels through 2026, and because Southern Copper’s mining costs don’t rise nearly as fast as metal prices do, the extra revenue converts heavily into profit — which shows up in margins that stayed very high and expanded further compared with a year earlier.
- Production was mixed by country: output rose in Mexico, helped by richer ore grades at its IMMSA and Buenavista operations, while Peruvian mines produced less copper because the ore being processed there was lower-grade.
- The business is generating much more profit relative to shareholder capital than a typical miner — return on equity over the past year sits near the high-40s percent range — a sign of how efficiently high metal prices are translating into bottom-line returns right now.
- Southern Copper kept spending heavily to grow: capital investment for the quarter rose about 48% from a year earlier, continuing to fund expansion projects including the Tia Maria development in Peru, which the company has said it is targeting to bring into production in the second half of 2027.
- The board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $1.30 per share plus a small stock dividend, payable November 19, 2026 to shareholders of record as of November 3, 2026.
- Chairman Germán Larrea highlighted that net sales, adjusted EBITDA (a measure of operating profitability before certain non-cash and financing costs) and net income all reached record levels for the quarter.
How the stock took it
Southern Copper Corp closed at $185.01 on Oct 23, 2026, the last session before the report, and at $194.43 on Oct 27, 2026, the first session after it — +5.1% across the report.
Closes from the market's daily record. Each figure spans the report date — from the last session that closed before it to the first that closed after — because a company may report before the open or after the close.
Fundamentals
| Metric | Value | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 64.5% | Trailing 12 months |
| Operating margin | 56.9% | Trailing 12 months |
| Net profit margin | 35.9% | Trailing 12 months |
| Pretax margin | 55.8% | Trailing 12 months |
| EPS | $6.81 | Trailing 12 months |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 32.8% | Trailing 12 months |
| EPS growth (YoY) | 50.4% | Trailing 12 months |
| Return on equity | 49.3% | Trailing 12 months |
Sources: company report · SEC filing · https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1001838/000110465926117588/scco-ex99d1.htm