Yahoo Finance Hecla Mining (HL) Q1 Earnings Meet Estimates, Revenues Beat
Hecla Mining Company HL reported first-quarter 2023 adjusted earnings per share of 1 cent, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate as well as the year-ago quarter’s adjusted figure.
Including one-time items, the company reported a loss of 1 cent per share, flat compared with the prior-year quarter.
The company’s revenues increased 2.4% year over year to around $200 million in the quarter under review. The top-line figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $198 million.
Hecla Mining Company Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Hecla Mining Company price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Hecla Mining Company Quote
Gold realized prices moved up 1.2% year over year to $1,902 an ounce. The realized price for silver was $22.60 per ounce in the quarter, down 8.3% from $24.70 in the prior-year quarter. Realized prices for lead and zinc were lower by 5.6% and 22.3%, respectively.
The total cost of sales increased 17% year over year to $165 million in the quarter. Gross profit slumped 35% to $35 million. The gross margin in the first quarter of 2023 was 17.5% compared with 27.6% in the prior-year quarter.
Exploration and pre-development expenses were $4.97 million for the first quarter of 2023. The company reported a decrease of $1.9 million or 3% in exploration and pre-development expenses, owing to reflecting lower expenditures across its portfolio. Adjusted EBITDA was $62 million, up from $58 million in the first quarter of 2022.
Hecla Mining reported cash costs per silver ounce and all-in-sustaining costs (AISC) per silver ounce of $2.14 and $8.96, respectively. Cash costs surged 96%, whereas AISC costs moved up 21.6% from the year-ago quarter.
Production Numbers
Hecla Mining reported silver production of 4 million ounces in the first quarter of 2023, up 22% year over year. Production rose 10% from the fourth quarter of 2022. The company reported the highest-ever production numbers since 2016.
Gold production was down 5% to 37,717 ounces from the first quarter of 2022. On a sequential basis, gold production was down 9%.
Financial Position
Hecla Mining ended the first quarter of 2023 with $96 million of cash in hand, down from the $105 million held at the end of 2022. Cash flow from operating activities was $40.6 million in the first quarter of 2023 compared with $36 million in the prior-year period.
Guidance
HL expects consolidated silver production of 17 million for 2023 and is targeting to reach the 20-million-ounce mark in 2025.
Price Performance
Shares of Hecla Mining have gained 28.1% in the past year against the industry's 1.4% decline.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Hecla Mining currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
Some better-ranked stocks in the basic materials space are Steel Dynamics, Inc. STLD, PPG Industries, Inc. PPG and Linde plc LIN. All these companies carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for STLD's current-year earnings has been revised 24% upward in the past 60 days. Steel Dynamics’ earnings beat the consensus estimate in each of the last four quarters. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 10.7%, on average. STLD has gained around 26% in a year.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for PPG's current-year earnings has been revised 11.7% upward in the past 60 days.
PPG Industries’ earnings beat the consensus estimate in three of the last four quarters, while missing in one quarter. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 6.8%, on average. PPG has gained around 8% in a year.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for LIN’s current-year earnings has been revised 3.8% upward in the past 60 days.
Linde beat the consensus estimate in each of the last four quarters. It delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 5.9%, on average. LIN’s shares have gained roughly 21% in the past year.
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