Southern Copper Corporation
Q2 2025 Earnings
Market Reaction
S&P 500 over the same 30 days: +2.15%.
Did SCCO Beat Earnings? Q2 2025 Results
Southern Copper delivered a notably strong bottom-line performance in Q2 2025, posting earnings per share of $1.22 against a consensus estimate of $1.11, a beat of 9.59%, even as revenue of $3.05 billion fell just short of the $3.06 billion estimate and declined 2.2% year-over-year. The key driver behind the earnings strength was a dramatic 17% reduction in the operating cash cost per pound of copper to $0.63, fueled by robust by-product credits from surging zinc and silver volumes, which helped lift the net income margin to 31.9% from 30.5% a year ago despite softer copper and molybdenum prices. Adjusted EBITDA held essentially flat at $1.79 billion, with margins expanding to 58.7%. Looking ahead, Southern Copper is actively engaging Mexico's federal administration to advance a $10.2 billion investment pipeline, while its Tia Maria project in Peru targets first copper production in 2027, underscoring management's confidence in long-term copper demand fundamentals even as U.S. trade policy remains a variable to watch.
- 3% decrease in operating costs in Q2 2025 vs Q2 2024
- Operating cash cost per pound of copper net of by-product credits decreased 17% to $0.63 in Q2 2025
- Interest income doubled year-over-year to $53.1 million in Q2 2025
- Lower SG&A expenses (-4.4%) and exploration expenses (-26.3%)
- Mined zinc production surged 56% year-over-year in Q2 2025
- Mined silver production increased 15.4% year-over-year in Q2 2025
- Higher by-product revenue credits (+6%) reduced cash costs
“We're pleased with Southern Copper's strong showing year-to-date. Most notably, sales volumes rose for copper (+0.3%), zinc (+25.3%), silver (+14.0%) and molybdenum (+5.9%). This evolution, combined with better prices for copper (LME, +3.6%), zinc (+3.3%) and silver (+26.3%), drove an 8% YTD increase in net sales. Additionally, our cash cost decreased from $0.91 to $0.70 (-23.6%), which drove an increase of 10.0% in EBITDA and 13.8% in net income. These positive variances reflected excellent performance in the first half of 2025.”
Southern Copper CEO, on the earnings call
Forward Guidance & Outlook
The company's capital investment program for this decade exceeds $15 billion across Peru and Mexico. The Tia Maria project in Peru ($1.8 billion budget) is in early construction with operations expected to begin in 2027, producing 120,000 tonnes of copper cathodes per year. Los Chancas ($2.6 billion) targets production start-up by 2030-2031 with 130,000 tonnes of copper and 7,500 tonnes of molybdenum annually. Michiquillay ($2.5 billion) targets 225,000 tonnes of copper per year with production start-up by 2032. In Mexico, Minera Mexico plans to invest more than $600 million in 2025. The company is engaging the current Mexican administration to advance $10.2 billion in planned investments. Management is closely monitoring U.S. trade policy developments to assess potential tariff impacts on its business.
SCCO YoY Financials
Figures from SEC filings and company reports. Not investment advice.