Royal Gold's cleanup act: record cash, a buyback that finally fired, and an Antamina NPI that over-delivers
Revenue +115% and record OCF in Q2, Hod Maden cut to a royalty-friendly 15% stake, a live $30M buyback — while copper keeps beating guidance and the stock sits ~15% under its March peak.
RGLD · Earnings Call · 2026-08-06
The record quarter that finally closed the messy bits
Royal Gold's second quarter saw the payoff of its roughly $5 billion 2025 acquisition spree: revenue of $451M (+115% yoy), a record $335M in operating cash flow (+119%), earnings up 79%, and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 83% with 76% of revenue still from gold. The portfolio is now so diversified that no single asset accounts for more than 13% of revenue. But the more revealing story is what management did on the side: it finished detoxifying the complex Sandstorm/Horizon structures that have spooked investors for two years. The centerpiece was Hod Maden. “After quarter end, we reduced our equity interest from 30% to 15% and return for additional royalty interests” — William Heissenbuttel, President and CEO · 2026-08-06, converting the bulk of a non-core JV stake into core royalty exposure. Combined with the Relief Canyon fixed-delivery settlement (which also added ~$22M of revenue), the VersaMet exit, the Bear Creek restructuring, and the Horizon cleanup, the Sandstorm portfolio is now, in Bill Heissenbuttel's words, “significantly simplified” — William Heissenbuttel, President and CEO · 2026-08-06. The remaining Hod Maden CapEx is "relatively small" — roughly $65M of a ~$900M project — and management left the door open to selling the residual equity interest. Lidya has taken over operatorship, Lidya is targeting 2028 first concentrate, and the transition, per Martin Raffield, has gone "very comfortable."The buyback actually fired — and he still won't let you model it
This is the quarter where the share repurchase program stopped being theoretical. Management introduced it in May 2026, and in Q2 repurchased and canceled 147,000 shares for $30M. That's a sharp reversal for a company that, in August 2025, was still saying “At this point, I don't think so. I think what we're going to do with excess cash flow at this point is pay down the debt” — William H. Heissenbuttel, President and Chief Executive Officer · 2025-08-07. By the May 2026 call the rationale was explicit — “This is about what we see as a value dislocation” — William Heissenbuttel, President and CEO · 2026-05-07 — and now:Don't expect a cadence, though: “I would... try to talk you out of modeling it because the decisions to buy shares back or not, depends on a number of factors.” — William Heissenbuttel, President and CEO · 2026-08-06 The stock has been violently volatile (‑29% then +38% over the last 90 days, currently ~15% below the March peak near $304), which helps explain the appetite.In the second quarter, we thought the market did not reflect what we see as the value of our company, and we are active on the share buyback alongside our other priorities.