Pan American Silver Corp. PAAS delivered notable declines in costs for its silver segment in 2025. The segment’s All-in Sustaining Costs (AISC) per silver ounce came in at $13.88, 26.9% lower than the year-ago quarter and below the company’s provided guidance of $14.50-$16.00.
The year-over-year improvement was primarily driven by the acquisition of the Juanicipio mine, which has been performing better than expected since the acquisition in September 2025. PAAS reported Juanicipio’s AISC of negative $3.18 per ounce in 2025.
The company, however, expects the Juanicipio mine’s AISC to reflect higher production costs per ounce from higher contractor, labor and energy costs in 2026. The AISC for Juanicipio is expected between $2.25 and $4.25 per ounce in 2026.
Higher costs at the Juanicipio mine will be partially offset by lower AISC at the Cerro Moro mine. The Cerro Moro mine’s AISC is expected between negative $25.75 and negative $21.75 per ounce in 2026, suggesting a decline from the negative $14.04 per ounce reported in 2025. This reflects higher gold prices, boosted by-product credits. Lower sustaining exploration and tailings investments, and reduced production costs cushioned negative all-in sustaining costs.
Nonetheless, La Colorada’s silver segment AISC for 2026 is expected between $33.25 and $35.75 per ounce, which is higher than the $24.85 recorded in 2025. Higher operating costs, driven by increased labor costs, will also push the Huaron mine’s AISC. The mine expects the silver segment's AISC to be $27.75 to $29.75 per ounce, higher than $21.55 per ounce reported in 2025.
Backed by these, PAAS expects silver segment AISC for 2026 to be $15.75-$18.25 per ounce, indicating a year-over-year increase of 22% at the mid-point.
PAAS’s peer Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd. ASM delivered AISC of $23.75 per silver-equivalent ounce, which rose 15% year over year. The increase in Avino Silver’s AISC is due to processing development material from the La Preciosa mine.
Hecla Mining Company HL reported silver AISC per ounce of $11.28 per ounce in 2025. Hecla Mining’s AISC in 2024 was $13.06 per ounce. The company expects the silver segment’s AISC for 2026 to be $15.00-$16.25 per ounce.
PAAS’ Price Performance, Valuation & Estimate
In a year, Pan American Silver shares have skyrocketed 114.7% compared with the industry's 161% whopping growth. In comparison, the Basic Materials sector has risen 56.5%, whereas the S&P 500 has moved up 33.1%.
PAAS is currently trading at a forward 12-month price-to-earnings multiple of 12.60X compared with the industry average of 15.09X.
In comparison, Avino Silver and Hecla Mining are trading at higher 28.38X and 33.29X, respectively.
The consensus mark for 2026 earnings is pegged at $4.44 per share, indicating a year-over-year jump of 74.8%. The 2027 estimate of $4.97 suggests an increase of 12.1%.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Pan American Silver’s earnings for 2026 has moved up 15.8% over the past 60 days and the same for 2027 has risen 16.9%.
PAAS currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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Hecla Mining Company (HL): Free Stock Analysis Report
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).