What happened
Shares of precious metals miner First Majestic Silver (AG -0.59%) are down 14.8% as of 12:00 p.m. EDT today. The force driving today's decline was the company's second-quarter earnings report that didn't live up to expectations.
So what
According to analyst estimates, First Majestic's earnings were going to come in at an adjusted net profit of $0.01 per share. After stripping out some one-time gains, though, First Majestic posted an adjusted $0.02 per share loss.
To make matters worse, total silver equivalent ounces produced and revenues declined, while cash and all-in sustaining costs increased. All of these elements led to weaker cash flows for the quarter, which forced management to cut its capital spending guidance to $17.5 million for the year.
Image source: Getty Images.
Now what
According to management, this was all related to work stoppages and some foreign currency losses from a strengthening Mexican peso. Those labor issues have been resolved and the company's mines are up and running again.
If this is truly the case, then investors should probably give the company a mulligan for this quarter. After all, First Majestic has historically been one of the better precious metal miners at generating cash flow per share. However, it will be worth watching over the next quarter or two to make sure that these are indeed one-time problems.