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MAG Silver's (MAG) Q4 Earnings Miss Estimates, Down Y/Y

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MAG Silver (MAG - Free Report) reported an adjusted loss per share of 1 cent for fourth-quarter 2022, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of earnings of 5 cents. The company had reported earnings per share of 9 cents in the year-ago quarter.

The net income for the quarter was $0.8 million against a loss of $8.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. MAG Silver’s principal asset is the Juanicipio Project located in Zacatecas, Mexico. The company has a 44% interest in Juanicipio, currently being developed with its operator Fresnillo Plc (FNLPF - Free Report) , which holds the remaining 56% stake.

MAG recorded income from Juanicipio of $40.8 million in 2022 compared with $15.7 million in 2021. This included a 44% share of net income from the sale of pre-production development and stope material as well as loan interest earned on mining assets brought into use.

MAG Silver Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

MAG Silver Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

MAG Silver Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | MAG Silver Corporation Quote

At the end of 2022, MAG Silver had a cash balance of $30 million compared with $57 billion at the end of 2021 with no long-term debt.

The Juanicipio 2022 exploration program was completed in the fourth quarter of 2022. In 2022, 646,148 tons of mineralized development and stope material were campaign processed through the Fresnillo and Saucito plants, with 8,697,372 payable silver ounces, 20,268 payable gold ounces, 4,487 payable lead tones and 6,758 payable zinc tons produced and sold.

The Juanicipio Project was connected to the national power grid on Dec 28, 2022. With the entire system energized, commissioning of the plant commenced in early January 2023 and full-load commissioning is now underway. Juanicipio produced its first lead concentrate in March 2023 and the first commercial shipment of concentrate is expected soon.

Price Performance

Shares of MAG Silver have declined 24.8% in the past year compared with the industry’s 25.7% decrease.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

MAG Silver currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the basic materials space are Olympic Steel, Inc.  (ZEUS - Free Report) and Steel Dynamics, Inc. (STLD - Free Report) . Both ZEUS and STLD sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.  

Olympic Steel’s shares have gained 33% in the past year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ZEUS’ current-year earnings has been revised 61% upward in the past 60 days. It topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the last four quarters and delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 26.2% on average.

Steel Dynamic’s shares have gained 32.4% in the past year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for STLD’s current-year earnings has been revised 37.2% upward in the past 60 days. It topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the last four quarters and delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 11.3% on average.

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