Charted: Which Gold Stocks Beat the Metal Since 2020

#How Gold Nearly Tripled and Which Stocks Kept Up

In March 2020, as the pandemic rattled markets, gold slipped to about $1,451 an ounce [1]. Few expected what came next. The metal climbed steadily for five years, then sped up, jumping 64% in 2025 alone, its best year since 1979 [2]. By January 2026 it had hit a record of about $5,594. It has cooled since and now trades near $4,180, still almost three times its pandemic low.

But gold's rally did not lift every gold stock equally. The table tracks share prices for eight large gold miners and royalty companies from March 23, 2020 to October 15, 2026, alongside gold and the S&P 500 [3]. Four of them, led by Kinross Gold at 503%, rose more than both. Barrick Mining and Franco-Nevada gained less than the metal itself.

#Why Gold Stocks are Important for Retail Investors

• Buyers poured in from all sides in 2025, as central banks added 863 tonnes and total gold demand topped 5,000 tonnes for the first time, driven by investors seeking safety and diversification.

• That matters for miners because their cost of digging up each ounce stays fairly steady, so a higher gold price can lift their profit per ounce much faster than the price itself.

• The same effect works in reverse, which is worth remembering now that gold sits below its January peak as investors expect interest rates to stay higher for longer.

• Royalty and streaming companies such as Franco-Nevada, Wheaton and Royal Gold pay mine owners cash upfront for a share of future output, yet their returns ranged from 140% to 424%, so the business model alone did not decide the outcome.

#Three Miners Led the Way

Kinross, AngloGold Ashanti and Agnico Eagle are all traditional miners, and they make up three of the top four performers. Kinross shows how a higher gold price feeds through to profits. It cost about $1,571 to produce each ounce in 2025, while gold averaged $3,431, and it generated a record $2.5 billion of free cash flow, the cash left after running and investing in its mines [4]. AngloGold grew by buying Centamin in 2024, adding Egypt's Sukari mine and about 450,000 ounces a year [5]. Agnico Eagle grew through its 2022 merger with Kirkland Lake Gold [6]. Past gains do not guarantee the same results ahead.

#Royalty Companies Told Two Different Stories

Royalty and streaming companies pay mine owners cash upfront in return for a share of future metal. They do not run mines themselves, so they avoid most of the rising costs that miners face. That model is often seen as the steadier way into gold, yet results varied widely.

#Two Big Names Trailed the Market

Newmont gained 178% and Barrick 140%, so neither kept pace with the S&P 500's 246%, and Barrick fell short of gold too. March 23, 2020 was the bottom of the pandemic stock market crash, while gold's own low came a few days earlier. Gold has also been bumpy this year, falling from its January record to near $4,000 by early summer before recovering to about $4,180 in mid-October. Delegates at this month's London Bullion Market Association conference forecast a gold price of about $5,013 by October 2027 [7].

#What Investors Can Do Next

Treat this table as a research starting point, not a recommendation. It covers share prices only, leaves out dividends and reflects one start date, so a different date would change the ranking. Investors can compare each company's full cost of producing an ounce, its debt, where its mines are located and its production plans. A gold fund such as GLD offers a simpler way to track the metal without the extra swings of individual company shares.

Gold stocks have delivered impressive gains, but how do they stack up against the wider mining sector? Discover the 20 largest mining stocks by market cap and see which companies dominate the industry.