How much a stock's price changes over time is important for most investors, since price performance can both impact your investment portfolio and help you compare investment results across sectors and industries.

Another thing that can drive investing is the fear of missing out, or FOMO. This particularly applies to tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.

What if you'd invested in Harmony Gold (HMY Quick QuoteHMY - Free Report) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to HMY for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?

Harmony Gold's Business In-Depth

With that in mind, let's take a look at Harmony Gold's main business drivers.

Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited is based in Randfontein, South Africa. The company conducts underground and surface gold mining. It is also engaged in related activities such as exploration, processing, smelting and refining. Harmony is South Africa's biggest gold producer by volume with production of roughly 1.48 million ounces in fiscal 2025.

The company’s mining operations are principally concentrated in South Africa. The company has nine underground operations located in the Witwatersrand Basin. Additionally, Harmony has an open-pit mine on the Kraaipan Greenstone Belt along with several surface sources treatment operations. The Hidden Valley, which is located in Papua New Guinea, is an open-pit silver and gold mine.

Also, many of these mines are located in the Free State Province such as Welcom, Virginia, Tshepong and Bambanani, along with the Evander gold mine in Mpumalanga province, the Elandskraal mine at the West Rand goldfields in Gauteng province, and Kalgold operations in the North West province.

The company has discontinued its mining operations at Mt. Magnet and South Kalgoorlie in Western Australia as a strategic move. Harmony recorded sales of $4,071 million for fiscal 2025 (ended Jun 30, 2025).

Domestic Projects: In South Africa, Harmony operates a total of nine underground operations, one open pit operation and several surface operations including an open cast mine, and nine processing plants, which are located in all of the currently known goldfields in the Witwatersrand basin of South Africa as well as the Kraaipan Greenstone Belt.

International Projects: In Papua New Guinea (PNG), Harmony has full ownership of Hidden Valley, an open-cast gold and silver project that began production in June 2009, and 50% ownership of the Wafi-Golpu project. Harmony’s exploration portfolio focuses principally on highly prospective areas in PNG and the Wafi-Golpu project in particular. Harmony expects that if Wafi-Golpu is developed, it will shift the company’s geographical mix from more than 90% South African production to 75% domestic output and 25% offshore. Harmony, in December 2022, also acquired the Eva Copper project and surrounding exploration tenements from Copper Mountain Mining Corporation.

Bottom Line

Putting together a successful investment portfolio takes a combination of research, patience, and a little bit of risk. For Harmony Gold, if you bought shares a decade ago, you're likely feeling really good about your investment today.

A $1000 investment made in May 2016 would be worth $6,013.70, or a gain of 501.37%, as of May 28, 2026, according to our calculations. This return excludes dividends but includes price appreciation.

In comparison, the S&P 500's gained 258.27% and the price of gold went up 249.20% over the same time frame.

Analysts are forecasting more upside for HMY too.

Harmony Gold benefits from a diverse portfolio and long-term growth projects, including the Wafi-Golpu copper-gold project in PNG and the Eva Copper project in Australia, which strengthen its international copper and gold footprint. Rising gold prices, supported by strong central-bank demand and geopolitical uncertainty, are expected to aid earnings and cash flows. The company also maintains a strong balance sheet, with net cash and liquidity improving significantly in fiscal 2025. However, higher operating costs, inflationary pressures, labor risks and rising electricity tariffs continue to weigh on margins. Production declined in fiscal 2025 due to weather disruptions and safety stoppages, while higher capital spending may pressure free cash flow going forward.

Shares have gained 16.60% over the past four weeks and there have been 1 higher earnings estimate revisions for fiscal 2026 compared to none lower. The consensus estimate has moved up as well.