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Best Gold Stocks to Buy Now (2026)

Top gold stocks in 2026 ranked by overall Zen Rating. "A" Rated stocks have returned an average of +32.52% per year, and are the best gold stocks to buy now. Learn More.

According to Zen Ratings, our proprietary rating system that evaluates 115 factors proven to drive growth in stocks and assigns each stock in our system an overall letter grade as well as 7 individual Component Grades for Value, Growth, Momentum, Sentiment, Safety, Financials, and proprietary AI algorithms, the 3 best gold mining stocks to buy right now are:

Iamgold (NYSE:IAG) is the #1 top gold stock out of 49 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +32.52% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Iamgold (NYSE:IAG) is: Value: A, Growth: B, Momentum: A, Sentiment: A, Safety: C, Financials: A, and AI: C.

Iamgold (NYSE:IAG) has a Due Diligence Score of 52, which is 20 points higher than the gold industry average of 32.

IAG passed 17 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Iamgold has seen its stock return 296.89% over the past year, overperforming other gold stocks by 154 percentage points.

Iamgold has an average 1 year price target of $17.25, a downside of -24.8% from Iamgold's current stock price of $22.94.

Iamgold stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 4 analysts covering Iamgold, 0% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 50% have issued a Buy, 50% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Galiano Gold (NYSEMKT:GAU) is the #2 top gold stock out of 49 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +32.52% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Galiano Gold (NYSEMKT:GAU) is: Value: B, Growth: A, Momentum: B, Sentiment: C, Safety: D, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Galiano Gold (NYSEMKT:GAU) has a Due Diligence Score of 27, which is -5 points lower than the gold industry average of 32. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates GAU as a "A".

GAU passed 9 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Galiano Gold has seen its stock return 150% over the past year, overperforming other gold stocks by 7 percentage points.

Galiano Gold has an average 1 year price target of $4.25, an upside of 32.81% from Galiano Gold's current stock price of $3.20.

Galiano Gold stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 1 analyst covering Galiano Gold, 0% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 100% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Ssr Mining (NASDAQ:SSRM) is the #3 top gold stock out of 49 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +32.52% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Ssr Mining (NASDAQ:SSRM) is: Value: A, Growth: B, Momentum: B, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Ssr Mining (NASDAQ:SSRM) has a Due Diligence Score of 44, which is 12 points higher than the gold industry average of 32.

SSRM passed 17 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Ssr Mining has seen its stock return 192.84% over the past year, overperforming other gold stocks by 50 percentage points.

Ssr Mining has an average 1 year price target of $26.74, a downside of -12.79% from Ssr Mining's current stock price of $30.66.

Ssr Mining stock has a consensus Hold recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 4 analysts covering Ssr Mining, 25% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 50% have issued a hold, while 25% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 4 gold stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 gold stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Aura Minerals (NASDAQ:AUGO) has an annual dividend yield of 1%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the gold industry average of 0.38%.

Newmont (NYSE:NEM) has an annual dividend yield of 0.81%, which is the same as the gold industry average of 0.38%. Newmont's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% three times in the last 10 years. Newmont's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Newmont's dividend payout ratio of 15.6% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) has an annual dividend yield of 0.63%, which is the same as the gold industry average of 0.38%. Royal Gold's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Royal Gold's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Royal Gold's dividend payout ratio of 27.2% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Gold stocks were up 1.33% in the last day, and up 10.33% over the last week. Equinox Gold was the among the top gainers in the gold industry, gaining 3.87% yesterday.

Equinox Gold shares are trading higher after CIBC upgraded the stock from Neutral to Outperformer and announced a C$32 price target.

Based on the Valuation rating, one of the 7 components of a stocks overall Zen Ratings grade, which evaluates factors including estimated earnings yield, earnings before interest and taxes/enterprise value, cash flow yield, free cash flow to price, and price-to-earnings growth (PEG ratio), the 3 most undervalued gold stocks right now are:

Fortuna Mining (NYSE:FSM) is the most undervalued gold stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Fortuna Mining has a valuation score of 57, which is 36 points higher than the gold industry average of 21. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Fortuna Mining's stock has gained 204.48% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the gold industry by 62 percentage points.

B2gold (NYSEMKT:BTG) is the second most undervalued gold stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

B2gold has a valuation score of 71, which is 50 points higher than the gold industry average of 21. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

B2gold's stock has gained 113.68% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the gold industry by -29 percentage points.

Ssr Mining (NASDAQ:SSRM) is the third most undervalued gold stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Ssr Mining has a valuation score of 86, which is 65 points higher than the gold industry average of 21. It passed 6 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Ssr Mining's stock has gained 192.84% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the gold industry by 50 percentage points.

58.82% of gold stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect gold stocks to fall by -6% over the next year.

22.22% of gold stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 31.11% of gold stocks are rated B (Buy), 33.33% are rated C (Hold), 8.89% are rated D (Sell), and 4.44% are rated F (Strong Sell).