Hecla Mining Company (HL) Earnings & Analysis

Latest quarter

Hecla reported Q2 FY2026 revenue of $333.9 million and diluted earnings per share of $0.17, compared with $0.09 a year earlier. Its gross margin rose to 64.9% from 38.3%, while its operating margin increased to 43.6% from 19.1%.

In its filing, Hecla said higher realized prices for its metals lifted sales, although lower sales volumes for most metals partly offset that effect. The company produced 4.2 million ounces of silver, down from 4.5 million ounces in the second quarter of 2025, primarily because of lower throughput and grades at Greens Creek.

Hecla said Keno Hill’s sales increased to $34.5 million from $26.1 million a year earlier as higher realized prices outweighed lower sales volumes. The company reported free cash flow of $135.8 million, compared with $119.2 million a year earlier. Income from continuing operations was $117.9 million, up from $26.9 million, according to the filing.

Adjusted EPS is the figure the consensus estimates, not the GAAP EPS above.

What management said on the call

CEO Robert Krcmarov said revenue from continuing operations fell from the first quarter because metal prices retreated and some silver concentrate, mostly from Greens Creek, had not shipped by quarter-end. He said the inventory shipped in early August and would appear in third-quarter results.

CFO Russell Lawlar said fuel represented about 3% of consolidated costs in the second quarter. He attributed that share to the company’s underground mines and said electricity came primarily from local hydropower. On the call, he also said Lucky Friday’s profit-sharing expense was directly tied to the silver price and had eased as the price fell. Lawlar could not give a per-ounce figure for that effect during the discussion.

Krcmarov said Keno Hill had met the silver-recovery criterion among the five criteria for commercial production. He said the company was pursuing permits and infrastructure work and, if critical permits arrived by mid-2029 and other conditions were met, expected to begin ramping up to higher production levels around the end of 2029. He added that Keno Hill was generating positive free cash flow.

Discussing the proposed Greens Creek pyrite project, Lawlar said engineering and costs were still being developed, so he would not provide a project-specific return figure. He said the company expected the project to produce roughly 1 million ounces of silver a year and reduce material sent to tailings. COO Carlos Aguiar said the project required minimal permitting and he did not expect significant permitting delays.

For the second half, Lawlar said he expected capital spending to rise in the third and fourth quarters as construction progressed and equipment arrived.

Guidance

Hecla lowered the upper end of its FY2026 consolidated silver production guidance to 15.1-16.1 million ounces. It raised its Greens Creek outlook to 8.0-8.3 million ounces from 7.5-8.1 million ounces, lowered Keno Hill’s to 2.2-2.6 million ounces from 2.9-3.2 million ounces, and tightened Lucky Friday’s to 4.9-5.2 million ounces from 4.7-5.2 million ounces.

The company also raised the lower end of its 2026 capital investment guidance, to $208-$223 million from $204-$223 million.