Hochschild Mining PLC (LSE:HOC, OTCQX:HCHDF, FRA:H3M), a FTSE 250 precious metals producer, rose 4% to 674p on Thursday after JPMorgan upgraded the stock to ‘overweight’.
The US investment bank also raised its price target to 990p from 890p, pointing to rising gold and silver prices forecast to double over the next two years.
The US investment bank, which previously had a neutral stance on the stock, said Hochschild was an attractive entry point after a 20% drop in its share price last month, arguing that the sale created a significant deviation from the company’s improving fundamentals.
Hochschild reported full-year 2025 results in line with JPMorgan and consensus expectations, with 2026 guidance for production, operating expenses and capital expenditures unchanged from last year’s fourth-quarter update.
With rising gold prices, JPMorgan now forecasts earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $1.1 billion in 2026 and $1.2 billion in 2027.
This will represent growth of 90% and 100%, respectively, compared to 2025, giving the stock 4.2 times and 3.7 times the non-demand value of these figures.
A key driver of growth is the Hochschild development pipeline, which the bank expects to deliver around 50% volume growth by 2030, bringing production to approximately 450,000 gold equivalent ounces per year.
The most important project is Monte do Carmo in Brazil, which is expected to reach a final investment decision in mid-2026 and represents the largest single contributor to its production expansion.
JPMorgan raised its target multiple to 5.0 times 2026 earnings from 4.0 times, citing improving operational stability and growth outlook as justifying the re-rating, and said it is broadly structurally bullish on gold and gold equities.
