During the first few minutes of trading today (6 March), the Endeavour Mining (LSE:EDV) share price was largely unchanged as investors reacted to the release of the West African gold miners results for the year ended 31 December 2025.
But do they tell us anything we don’t already know?
Easy peasy
On the one hand, being the boss of Endeavour Mining is probably among the easiest FTSE 100 jobs at the moment. The soaring gold price means the group’s revenue and earnings are going up without Ian Cockerill — or his management team — having to do anything different.
Indeed, a look at this morning’s press release shows 2025 was a record-breaking year with free cash flow of $1.16bn, a 269% increase on 2024. As a result, the group was able to reduce its net debt by $416m.
Impressively, adjusted earnings per share increased by 246% to $3.23. Proudly, the group noted that it had now met guidance during 12 of the past 13 years. And with shareholder returns reaching $435m, another record was broken during the year.
However, given that gold soared 60% during 2025, such an impressive performance was entirely predictable. The business is, literally, a gold mine.
But accounts are backwards looking. They tell us what’s happened rather than what will (or could) occur in the future. In some respects, the publication of the group’s 2025 numbers is largely irrelevant. We all knew they’d be good.
Yet this year could be even better. Since the start of 2026, the price of the precious metal has risen 18%. If it remains at this level (or goes higher), goodness knows how much cash Endeavour Mining will be able to generate.
Huge challenges
From an operational perspective, nothing’s really changed though. The industry remains one of the most challenging around. The group’s detailed assessment of the potential issues that it faces — things like the weather, natural disasters, strikes, changes in legislation, and political instability to name just a few — reminds us that investing in the sector is incredibly risky.
And, of course, the price of gold could fall. Although global uncertainty has driven precious metals prices higher, they could easily drop if things start to calm down. Endeavour Mining’s share price is then likely to decline sharply.
But gold markets thrive on uncertainty. Prior to this week’s events in the Middle East, with gold changing hands for around $5,000 an ounce, most economists were predicting further modest rises. Now, there’s talk that $6,000 could be in sight. And there’s no immediate sign that the rally’s coming to an end.
Demand from the world’s central banks remains strong and this week’s steep rise in energy prices could feed through into higher inflation if the conflict in the Middle East persists. Traditionally, gold has been seen as a hedge against rising prices. For those investors who are comfortable with the level of risk, I think Endeavour Mining’s still a stock to consider given what’s happening in the world at the moment.
