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Chasing Record Gold Prices? Don't Forget Silver: Why it's a Buy
Though silver has a larger market cap than many Fortune 500 companies and even some “Magnificent 7” companies like Tesla ((TSLA - Free Report) ), the shiny metal has taken a backseat to gold. While silver is more commonly mined than gold, gold’s price per ounce makes it a far more valuable asset than gold.
Gold is the largest asset class in the world, with a market cap north of $22 trillion, while silver has a market cap of just ~$1.5 trillion. In addition to its gargantuan market cap, gold is stealing the spotlight from silver of late due to its significant price outperformance. The SPDR Gold Trust ETF ((GLD - Free Report) ) is up a robust 41.81% over the past twelve months, while the iShares Silver Trust ((SLV - Free Report) ) lags and is up 18.01%. Nevertheless, below are five reasons silver may play catchup:
Silver Breaks Out Decade Plus Base
While gold has printed new all-time highs several times in 2025, silver finally broke out on Thursday to 13-year highs. As the old Wall Street adage goes, “The longer the base, the higher in space.” Adding Fibonacci extensions to Thursday morning’s breakouts suggests that $39 and $45 an ounce are reasonable targets for silver if this breakout is to stick. Furthermore, volume on the SLV ETF swelled to more than 2x the norm intraday, confirming the breakout.
Image Source: TradingView
Gold-to-Silver Ratio Reaches Extremes
Though gold and silver aren’t perfectly correlated, they tend to trade in tandem. Recently, the gold-to-silver ratio reached an extreme. Historically, gold has made the first move higher, and silver has played catchup. In addition, gold fell more than 1% intraday while silver rose more than 2% - signaling a clear bullish change of character for silver.
“The Big Beautiful Bill” Will Add Trillions in Debt
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) predicts that “The Big Beautiful Bill,” backed by President Donald Trump, will add $2.4 trillion to primary deficits and $3 trillion to debt (accounting for interest) if passed. Regardless of what side of the aisle you stand with politically, it’s hard to argue that Republicans or Democrats have been fiscally responsible. For perspective, it took 221 years for the US debt to reach $12 trillion. Then, from 2020-2024, the US added another $12 trillion in debt. Investors use silver as a hedge against rampant government spending, tariff uncertainty, and inflation.
Silver Will Be Needed to Power the AI Boom
The AI revolution is in full swing as mega-cap tech juggernauts dole out billions in CAPEX to build energy-hungry data centers across the globe. Silver is a necessary ingredient for the AI boom and is used in expensive GPUs from Nvidia ((NVDA - Free Report) ) and other chip companies that train large language models (LLMs). In addition, some analysts predict that AI data centers could consume ~12% of all American energy output by 2028 (up from 4% in 2023). The US may have to turn to renewable energy sources and companies like First Solar ((FSLR - Free Report) ) to fill the void. Once again, silver is a necessary ingredient needed to produce solar panels.
Wall Street Analysts are Bullish on Silver Miners
Analysts tracked by Zacks Investment Research have high hopes for silver miners like First Majestic Silver ((AG - Free Report) ). The silver mining industry ranks 13 out of the 244 industries tracked by Zacks, making it a top 5% group.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Bottom Line
While gold holds the precious metals spotlight with its impressive market cap and recent price surge, silver appears poised for a significant resurgence.
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Chasing Record Gold Prices? Don't Forget Silver: Why it's a Buy
Though silver has a larger market cap than many Fortune 500 companies and even some “Magnificent 7” companies like Tesla ((TSLA - Free Report) ), the shiny metal has taken a backseat to gold. While silver is more commonly mined than gold, gold’s price per ounce makes it a far more valuable asset than gold.
Gold is the largest asset class in the world, with a market cap north of $22 trillion, while silver has a market cap of just ~$1.5 trillion. In addition to its gargantuan market cap, gold is stealing the spotlight from silver of late due to its significant price outperformance. The SPDR Gold Trust ETF ((GLD - Free Report) ) is up a robust 41.81% over the past twelve months, while the iShares Silver Trust ((SLV - Free Report) ) lags and is up 18.01%. Nevertheless, below are five reasons silver may play catchup:
Silver Breaks Out Decade Plus Base
While gold has printed new all-time highs several times in 2025, silver finally broke out on Thursday to 13-year highs. As the old Wall Street adage goes, “The longer the base, the higher in space.” Adding Fibonacci extensions to Thursday morning’s breakouts suggests that $39 and $45 an ounce are reasonable targets for silver if this breakout is to stick. Furthermore, volume on the SLV ETF swelled to more than 2x the norm intraday, confirming the breakout.
Image Source: TradingView
Gold-to-Silver Ratio Reaches Extremes
Though gold and silver aren’t perfectly correlated, they tend to trade in tandem. Recently, the gold-to-silver ratio reached an extreme. Historically, gold has made the first move higher, and silver has played catchup. In addition, gold fell more than 1% intraday while silver rose more than 2% - signaling a clear bullish change of character for silver.
“The Big Beautiful Bill” Will Add Trillions in Debt
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) predicts that “The Big Beautiful Bill,” backed by President Donald Trump, will add $2.4 trillion to primary deficits and $3 trillion to debt (accounting for interest) if passed. Regardless of what side of the aisle you stand with politically, it’s hard to argue that Republicans or Democrats have been fiscally responsible. For perspective, it took 221 years for the US debt to reach $12 trillion. Then, from 2020-2024, the US added another $12 trillion in debt. Investors use silver as a hedge against rampant government spending, tariff uncertainty, and inflation.
Silver Will Be Needed to Power the AI Boom
The AI revolution is in full swing as mega-cap tech juggernauts dole out billions in CAPEX to build energy-hungry data centers across the globe. Silver is a necessary ingredient for the AI boom and is used in expensive GPUs from Nvidia ((NVDA - Free Report) ) and other chip companies that train large language models (LLMs). In addition, some analysts predict that AI data centers could consume ~12% of all American energy output by 2028 (up from 4% in 2023). The US may have to turn to renewable energy sources and companies like First Solar ((FSLR - Free Report) ) to fill the void. Once again, silver is a necessary ingredient needed to produce solar panels.
Wall Street Analysts are Bullish on Silver Miners
Analysts tracked by Zacks Investment Research have high hopes for silver miners like First Majestic Silver ((AG - Free Report) ). The silver mining industry ranks 13 out of the 244 industries tracked by Zacks, making it a top 5% group.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Bottom Line
While gold holds the precious metals spotlight with its impressive market cap and recent price surge, silver appears poised for a significant resurgence.