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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:

Centerra Gold (NYSE:CGAU) 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 Centerra Gold (NYSE:CGAU) is: Value: B, Growth: B, Momentum: A, Sentiment: A, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Centerra Gold (NYSE:CGAU) has a Due Diligence Score of 38, which is 6 points higher than the gold industry average of 32.

CGAU passed 15 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Centerra Gold has seen its stock return 173.3% over the past year, overperforming other gold stocks by 52 percentage points.

Centerra Gold has an average 1 year price target of $16.50, a downside of -12.88% from Centerra Gold's current stock price of $18.94.

Centerra Gold stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 2 analysts covering Centerra Gold, 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.

Orla Mining (NYSEMKT:ORLA) 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 Orla Mining (NYSEMKT:ORLA) is: Value: C, Growth: B, Momentum: A, Sentiment: B, Safety: D, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Orla Mining (NYSEMKT:ORLA) has a Due Diligence Score of 60, which is 28 points higher than the gold industry average of 32.

ORLA passed 21 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Orla Mining has seen its stock return 144.18% over the past year, overperforming other gold stocks by 22 percentage points.

Orla Mining has an average 1 year price target of $27.00, an upside of 55.08% from Orla Mining's current stock price of $17.41.

Orla Mining stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 1 analyst covering Orla Mining, 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.

Barrick Mining (NYSE:B) 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 Barrick Mining (NYSE:B) is: Value: B, Growth: B, Momentum: A, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: A, and AI: C.

Barrick Mining (NYSE:B) has a Due Diligence Score of 38, which is 6 points higher than the gold industry average of 32.

B passed 15 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Barrick Mining has seen its stock return 169.21% over the past year, overperforming other gold stocks by 47 percentage points.

Barrick Mining has an average 1 year price target of $47.43, an upside of 1.02% from Barrick Mining's current stock price of $46.95.

Barrick Mining stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 7 analysts covering Barrick Mining, 28.57% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 57.14% have issued a Buy, 14.29% have issued a hold, while 0% 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 1.11%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the gold industry average of 0.4%.

Newmont (NYSE:NEM) has an annual dividend yield of 0.82%, which is the same as the gold industry average of 0.4%. 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 15.5% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) has an annual dividend yield of 0.64%, which is the same as the gold industry average of 0.4%. 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 24.7% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Gold stocks were up 0.93% in the last day, and up 5.19% over the last week.

We couldn't find a catalyst for why gold stocks are up.

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:

Caledonia Mining (NYSEMKT:CMCL) 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.

Caledonia Mining has a valuation score of 57, which is 38 points higher than the gold industry average of 19. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Caledonia Mining's stock has gained 191.63% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the gold industry by 70 percentage points.

Fortuna Mining (NYSE:FSM) 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.

Fortuna Mining has a valuation score of 71, which is 52 points higher than the gold industry average of 19. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Fortuna Mining's stock has gained 105.75% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the gold industry by -16 percentage points.

Centerra Gold (NYSE:CGAU) is the third most undervalued gold stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Centerra Gold has a valuation score of 43, which is 24 points higher than the gold industry average of 19. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Centerra Gold's stock has gained 173.3% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the gold industry by 52 percentage points.

61.76% of gold stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect gold stocks to fall by -0.2% over the next year.

11.36% of gold stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 29.55% of gold stocks are rated B (Buy), 45.45% are rated C (Hold), 11.36% are rated D (Sell), and 2.27% are rated F (Strong Sell).