10 Best Copper Stocks to Buy According to Wall Street Analysts

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4. Trekor Metals (NYSEAMERICAN:TGB)

Market Cap: $2.54 billion

Average Upside Potential: 46%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 21

Florence Copper in Arizona moved into commercial production last month, and the early signs are good. The wellfield has had no significant performance issues, initial flow rates are above expectations, and the plant that turns the solution into cathode ran at design capacity for several days and produced high-quality copper. Florence made 7 million pounds of cathode in the third quarter, up 36% from the prior quarter, and the company is targeting full production capacity in early 2027.

At Gibraltar in British Columbia, higher mill throughput and strong grades in the Connector Pit lifted copper output 12% from the prior quarter to 34 million pounds. The company raised its 2026 Gibraltar guidance to 115 million to 120 million pounds, up from 110 million to 115 million, which shows the older mine is also pulling its weight.

The two mines now give the company a mix of an established concentrator operation and a newer source of U.S. copper cathode. Florence uses a different method from a conventional mine, dissolving copper in place and bringing the solution to the surface, so its ramp-up is the main thing to watch as the company heads into next year.

3. Hudbay Minerals (NYSE:HBM)

Market Cap: $9.29 billion

Average Upside Potential: 79%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 42

Hudbay Minerals produced copper at a negative cost in the second quarter. After credits from gold and other by-products, its consolidated cash cost was minus $0.40 a pound, and the company improved its full-year guidance to a range of minus $0.45 to minus $0.25 a pound from minus $0.30 to minus $0.10. In practice, that means the mines earn more from by-products than they spend producing the copper itself.

That cash flow has built a stronger balance sheet. The company ended the quarter with $890.9 million in cash and a net debt position of negative $80.5 million, meaning it held more cash than debt. It also reaffirmed its 2026 copper production guidance, so the stronger finances are not coming from a cutback in output.

Copper World in Arizona is the growth project. Mitsubishi closed its purchase of a 30% stake in the joint venture in January, paying about $420 million at closing and committing another $180 million within 18 months. Engineering for the definitive feasibility study is about 95% complete, and a sanctioning decision is on track for late 2026, which would turn the project from a study into a build.

2. Ivanhoe Electric (NYSEAMERICAN:IE)

Market Cap: $1.21 billion

Average Upside Potential: 169%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 29

Chief Executive Officer Taylor Melvin said, “We are currently transitioning into early construction,” after the company released an updated feasibility study for its Santa Cruz copper project in Arizona. The study values the project at an after-tax net present value of $3.5 billion at a copper price of $6.79 a pound. At a more conservative base case of $4.75 a pound, the figure is $1.5 billion, so the project stays profitable on paper even if copper retreats.

The mine is designed to produce about 75,000 tonnes of copper a year over its first 15 years and to run for 24 years. Work on the box cut was slated to begin in October, tunnel boring machine decline development is targeted for summer 2027, and first copper cathode is planned for 2029.

Financing has a federal backer in view. A preliminary project letter from the U.S. Export-Import Bank points to potential debt funding of up to $1.1 billion, and the company says the letter completes the bank’s first phase of due diligence and moves the application to the second. A project of this size needs outside capital, so each step through that process matters to the construction timeline.

1. Western Copper and Gold (NYSEAMERICAN:WRN)

Market Cap: $337.01 million

Average Upside Potential: 281%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 14

Western Copper and Gold’s Casino project in Canada’s Yukon has a feasibility study built on a copper price far below today’s. The 2022 study used US$3.60 a pound and still showed an after-tax net present value of C$2.33 billion, so any move in copper above that assumption works in the project’s favor. Chairman Mark Smith has called Casino “one of the most significant undeveloped copper-gold projects” he has worked on.

The study describes a mine producing about 163 million pounds of copper a year over its life, along with a large amount of gold that adds a second revenue stream. Two large strategic investors back the project: Rio Tinto holds about 8.5% and Mitsubishi Materials about 5.0%. Having mining majors on the register gives a developer without revenue some credibility with lenders and permitting authorities.

The company held more than C$120.6 million in cash and investments at the end of September, and the project is moving through the Yukon’s environmental assessment panel review. For a developer at this stage, that cash and that review are the two milestones that count, because the permit decides whether Casino can ever move toward construction, and the cash pays for the wait.

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