Three Metals and Mining Stocks That May Be Worth Panning Into
This week, we use AAII’s A+ Investor Stock Grades to provide insight into three metals and mining stocks. With the recent rise in demand, should you consider the three metals and mining stocks of Kinross Gold Corp. (KGC), SunCoke Energy Inc. (SXC) and United States Steel Corp. (X)?
Metals and Mining Recent News
The global metals and mining industry is poised for steady growth over the next decade, driven by rising demand for metals and critical minerals used in clean energy technologies and infrastructure. According to Precedence Research, the global mining metal market size is predicted to increase from $1.19 trillion in 2025 to approximately $1.86 trillion by 2034, expanding at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.13%. This anticipated expansion is closely tied to increased needs for materials like lithium, copper and rare earth elements like gold, essential for battery production and the world’s electrification expansion.
Government incentives and infrastructure investments are spurring a wave of domestic mining and recycling initiatives, according to a KPMG report. The surge in demand is also fueled in part by the development of electric vehicles (EVs) and renewable power projects.
Alongside rising demand for metals, surging gold prices are also shaping the industry’s outlook. Gold futures are rising, driven by economic uncertainty, inflation concerns and increased central bank purchases.
This combination of high market value and safe-haven status may create favorable conditions for miners to boost revenues and reinvest in exploration and production capacity. Given these trends, companies such as Kinross Gold, SunCoke and United States Steel could be noteworthy contenders worth examining further.
Grading Metals and Mining Stocks With AAII’s A+ Stock Grades
When analyzing a company, it is helpful to have an objective framework that allows you to compare companies in the same way. This is why AAII created the A+ Stock Grades, which evaluates companies across five factors that research and real-world investment results indicate to identify market-beating stocks in the long run: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions (and surprises) and quality.
Using AAII’s A+ Stock Grades, the following table summarizes the attractiveness of three metals and mining stocks — Kinross Gold, SunCoke and United States Steel — based on their fundamentals.
AAII’s A+ Stock Grade Summary for Three Metals and Mining Stocks
What the A+ Stock Grades Reveal
Kinross Gold Corp. (KGC) is a prominent global senior gold mining company headquartered in Canada. Its operations and projects span across the U.S., Brazil, Mauritania, Chile and Canada. Key projects include Fort Knox, Round Mountain, Bald Mountain, Manh Choh, Paracatu, La Coipa, Lobo-Marte, Tasiast and Great Bear. These projects encompass a range of mining operations, from open-pit mines like Fort Knox and Round Mountain to long-life cornerstone operations like Paracatu.
The company has a Value Grade of C, based on its Value Score of 48, which is average. Higher scores indicate a more attractive stock for value investors and, thus, a better grade. The Value Grade is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales (P/S) ratio, price-earnings (P/E) ratio, price-to-book-value (P/B) ratio, price-to-free-cash-flow (P/FCF) ratio, shareholder yield and the ratio of enterprise value to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). Kinross Gold ranks in the 41st percentile among all U.S.-listed stocks for shareholder yield and in the 11th percentile for the enterprise-value-to-EBITDA ratio. The company has a shareholder yield of 0.7% and an enterprise-value-to-EBITDA ratio of 4.7. The price-to-book ratio is 2.57, which ranks in the 69th percentile.
Higher-quality stocks possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades from 1998 through 2019. The A+ Quality Grade is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals to assets, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and F-Score. To be assigned a Quality Score, though, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.
Kinross Gold has a Quality Grade of A, with a score of 90, which is very strong. The company ranks strongly in terms of its return on assets and F-Score. The company has a return on assets of 8.9% and an F-Score of 7. The F-Score is a number between 0 and 9 that assesses the strength of a company’s financial position. It considers the profitability, leverage, liquidity and operating efficiency of a company.
Kinross Gold has a Momentum Grade of A, based on its Momentum Score of 96. This means that the stock’s momentum is very strong in terms of its weighted relative price strength over the last four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters, with the most recent quarterly price change given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters given a weight of 20%. The ranks are 96, 70, 66 and 93, sequentially from the most recent quarter.
SunCoke Energy Inc. (SXC) operates as an independent producer of coke in the Americas and Brazil. It operates through three segments: domestic coke, Brazil coke and logistics. It offers metallurgical and thermal coal. The company also provides export and domestic material handling and/or mixing services to steel, coke, electric utility, coal producing and other manufacturing-based customers. In addition, it owns and operates coke-making facilities in the U.S. and Brazil. SunCoke was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Lisle, Illinois.
Earnings estimate revisions indicate how analysts view a firm’s short-term prospects. SunCoke has an Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade of C, based on a score of 56, which is neutral. The grade is based on the statistical significance of its latest two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months. SunCoke reported a positive earnings surprise of 23.1% for the fourth quarter of 2024, and in the prior quarter reported a positive earnings surprise of 63.6%. Over the last month, the consensus earnings estimate for the first quarter of 2025 and full-year 2025 has had no upward or downward revisions.
The components of the Growth Composite Score consider a company’s success in growing sales on a year-over-year and long-term annualized basis and its ability to consistently generate positive cash from its core operations. SunCoke has a Growth Grade of A, which is very strong. The company has a five-year annual sales growth rate of 3.9%. Cash from operations has been positive in the past five consecutive years.
SunCoke has a Momentum Grade of C, based on its Momentum Score of 43. This means that the stock’s momentum is average in terms of its weighted relative price strength over the last four quarters. The quarterly ranks are 53, 81, 21 and 45, sequentially from the most recent quarter. The weighted four-quarter relative price strength is –4.1%.
The company has a Value Grade of A, based on a score of 92, which is deep value. SunCoke’s price-earnings ratio is 8.1, which ranks in the 15th percentile among all U.S.-listed stocks. Additionally, the company’s enterprise-value-to-EBITDA ratio is 4.4, which ranks in the 10th percentile and compares to the sector median of 10.4. These favorable ratios suggest that SunCoke’s stock may be relatively cheap compared to similar companies in its sector.
United States Steel Corp. (X), headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a leading steel producer operating primarily in North America and Europe. The company manufactures and sells flat-rolled and tubular steel products through four key business segments. The Mini Mill segment supplies hot-rolled, cold-rolled and coated sheets along with electrical steel to customers in the automotive, construction and industrial sectors. Through its U.S. Steel Europe segment, the company offers coils, plates, tin products and pipes to a wide range of markets, including automotive, construction, electrical and petrochemicals. In addition to its steel operations, the company is also involved in real estate development.
United States Steel has a Momentum Grade of B, based on its Momentum Score of 73. This means that the stock’s momentum is strong in terms of its weighted relative price strength over the last four quarters. The quarterly ranks are 87, 56, 42 and 28, sequentially from the most recent quarter. The weighted four-quarter relative price strength is 4.9%.
United States Steel has an Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade of A, based on a score of 84, which is very positive. The company reported a positive earnings surprise of 49.7% for the fourth quarter of 2024, and in the prior quarter reported a positive earnings surprise of 17.9%. Over the last month, the consensus earnings estimate for the first quarter of 2025 has decreased from a loss of $0.301 to a loss of $0.326 per share due to three downward revisions and one upward revision. Over the last month, the consensus earnings estimate for full-year 2025 has increased from $2.028 to $2.371 per share, reflecting four upward and no downward revisions.
The company’s Growth Grade is B, which is strong. United States Steel has generated positive annual cash from operations in the past five consecutive years and has a five-year annual sales growth rate of 3.9%.
