Shares of Barrick Gold Corp. GOLD, -4.01% ABX, -4.00% surged 2.9% in premarket trading, to bounce off the previous session’s 10-month closing low, after the gold miner reported fourth-quarter profit and revenue that beat expectations. Net earnings were $685 million, or 39 cents a share, down from $882 million, or 50 cents a share, in the third quarter. Adjusted earnings per share, excluding nonrecurring, items were 35 cents, above the FactSet consensus of 31 cents. Revenue fell to $3.28 billion from $3.54 in the previous quarter, but topped the FactSet consensus of $3.25 billion. A year ago, the company reported net earnings of $1.39 billion, or 78 cents a share, on revenue of $2.88 billion. Realized gold price per ounce was $1,871, compared with $1,926 in the third quarter and $1,483 a year ago. Free cash flow was $1.09 billion, down from $1.31 billion in the third quarter but up from $429 million a year ago; the FactSet consensus was $720.8 million. The company said while cost per ounce was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, total cash costs were contained despite higher royalty expenses from the higher gold price environment. Barrick Gold’s stock has declined 14.8% over the past three months through Wednesday, while gold futures GC00, +0.52% have declined 4.8% and the S&P 500 SPX, -0.03% has gained 10.2%.
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