Is a gold stock a good long-term investment?

Gold stocks can be good long-term investments. For example, Franco-Nevada has outperformed the price of gold and the broader stock market since its initial public offering. However, not all gold stocks can deliver attractive investment returns due to the risks associated with mining, so investors need to choose their gold stock investments wisely.

Should I keep cash or gold?

The decision to keep cash or gold is a personal preference based on your beliefs about inflation, the economy, and the money supply. Over the long term, gold has outperformed cash. According to data from TradingView, the average annual return on gold has been 10.9% over the past quarter-century. Meanwhile, the average annual return on cash as measured by interest earned was 4.2%. However, the purchasing power of cash has steadily declined due to inflation.

What reasons are there not to invest in gold?

While there are many positive reasons to invest in gold, there are also several cons. These include the possibility of the price of gold falling; it's not always a great hedge against inflation or macroeconomic headwinds; and it can underperform stocks over the long term. Meanwhile, there are risks and costs associated with owning physical gold (e.g., insurance or theft). Investing in gold isn't for everyone. You should firmly believe that gold prices will rise before investing in gold.

What is the average return on gold stocks?

Since the end of 2007, the average gold mining stock has delivered a more than 4% compound annual return. While that has outperformed bonds (less than 4%), it has underperformed a physical gold ETF (over 8%) and the S&P 500 (over 10%).

What if I invested $1,000 in gold 10 years ago?

If you invested $1,000 into gold a decade ago, that investment would be worth over $2,900 in late 2025.

Best Gold Stocks to Buy in 2026 and How to Invest

Key Points

Gold ETFs offer diversified exposure to gold stocks, simplifying investments with reasonable fees.
Franco-Nevada provides stable cash flow through royalties and streaming agreements, reducing the risks of mining cost overruns.
Gold mining stocks can leverage production growth to outperform the rise in the market price of physical gold.

Gold stocks are publicly traded investments that provide exposure to gold through mining companies, gold-focused ETFs, and streaming or royalty companies. Mining companies produce gold directly, while ETFs hold physical gold or baskets of gold stocks. Streaming and royalty companies finance mines in exchange for a share of future production or revenue.

Investors often turn to gold as a safe-haven asset during periods of inflation, geopolitical tension, or economic uncertainty. Those forces can make gold prices volatile, but they can also drive sharp rallies, as seen in late 2025 when prices surged amid inflation and global risks.

Gold stocks offer a different way to capture those moves. Unlike physical gold, gold companies can grow profits by expanding production and lowering costs, which can lead to higher returns. That upside isn’t guaranteed, though, making careful stock selection essential.

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Ticker Information Table
Name and ticker	Market cap	Dividend yield	Industry
Barrick Mining (NYSE:B)	$77.7 billion	1.82%	Metals and Mining
Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV)	$50.6 billion	0.58%	Metals and Mining
VanEck ETF Trust - VanEck Gold Miners ETF (NYSEMKT:GDX)	$0.0 thousand	0.00%	Capital Markets

Data as of Mar 4, 2026. Showing 3 of 3 tickers.

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NYSE: B

Barrick Mining

Today's Change

(-8.31%) $-4.20

Current Price

$46.35

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$78B

Day's Range

$44.83 - $47.93

52wk Range

$17.00 - $54.69

Volume

23M

Avg Vol

15M

Gross Margin

48.22%

Dividend Yield

1.82%

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NYSE: FNV

Franco-Nevada

Today's Change

(-5.58%) $-15.51

Current Price

$262.41

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$51B

Day's Range

$251.59 - $265.31

52wk Range

$140.03 - $285.67

Volume

954K

Avg Vol

797K

Gross Margin

71.99%

Dividend Yield

0.58%

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Franco-Nevada is a Canada-based gold-focused streaming and royalty company. It has a diversified portfolio, with agreements tied to gold, silver, the platinum group metals (PGMs), iron ore, and oil and gas. In 2025, 81% of its revenue will come from gold and other precious metals.

A major benefit of Franco-Nevada's focus on royalties and streaming is that it reduces risk. It doesn't face the capital and operating cost overruns that have historically plagued mining companies. At the same time, Franco-Nevada's agreements position it to profit as its mining partners complete exploration and expansion projects.

Franco-Nevada's streaming and royalty contracts provide it with the ability to generate lots of cash by selling the physical commodities it receives. That cash flow enables it to invest in new deals and pay a dividend.

Franco-Nevada has increased its dividend each year since its initial public offering (IPO) in 2008, hitting a milestone of 18 consecutive years in 2025. The company also boasts a debt-free balance sheet -- a rarity in the mining industry -- giving it even more financial flexibility to invest in new royalty and streaming agreements. It had about $1.4 billion of available capital in late 2025 to invest in new royalty and streaming opportunities.

Because Franco-Nevada can profit from gold mining without exposure to the risks of mine development, its stock has historically outperformed the price of gold and other gold mining stocks. All of these factors make it an ideal gold stock investment.

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NYSEMKT: GDX

VanEck ETF Trust - VanEck Gold Miners ETF

Today's Change

(-8.76%) $-10.10

Current Price

$105.24

Key Data Points

Day's Range

$102.54 - $107.99

52wk Range

$40.19 - $117.17

Volume

67M

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The VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF holds the stocks of large gold mining companies. It's one of the largest gold ETFs, with about $23.2 billion in assets as of late 2025, when the ETF held shares in more than 50 gold mining companies. VanEck's top five holdings by value were:

Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM -7.07%)
Newmont Corporation (NEM -7.75%)
AngloGold Ashanti (AU -10.35%)
Gold Fields (GFI -11.55%)
Barrick Mining (B -8.31%)

The five gold stocks made up almost 30% of the ETF's assets, with Agnico Eagle Mines accounting for 7.8%. Those top gold stocks have market capitalizations ranging from Agnic Eagle Mines' $81 billion to Barrick Mining's $56.1 billion. With the exception of Wheaton and Franco-Nevada, these top holdings are the world's largest gold mining companies.

The gold ETF enables investors to easily own a diverse, high-quality group of large-scale gold companies. The ETF also has a reasonable expense ratio of 0.51%, making it a relatively cost-effective way to invest in many gold stocks.

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FAQ about investing in gold stocks

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About the Author

Matt DiLallo has been a contributing Motley Fool stock market analyst specializing in covering dividend-paying companies, particularly in the energy and REIT sectors, since 2012. He also covers pre-IPO companies, ETFs, and other investing topics. He holds an MBA from Liberty University.

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@MatthewDiLallo

Matt DiLallo has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.