Almonty Flips the Switch on $300 Million Buyback as Tungsten Economics Undergo a Sea Change

Almonty starts $300M share repurchase amid record tungsten prices, Q2 revenue up 498%, and Sangdong mine ramping production.

The tungsten producer's three-year repurchase program kicked off today, with management authorized to buy back up to 14.4 million common shares — roughly 5 percent of outstanding stock — through August 2029. The board gave its blessing to the $300 million plan on August 17, and the company frames the move as a response to what it sees as a disconnect between its share price and the underlying value of its tungsten assets, particularly as the Sangdong mine in South Korea's Gangwon province ramps up.

That ramp-up is now firmly underway. The processing plant has entered throughput operations, a milestone the company describes as the true start of its production phase. The timing could hardly be better: tungsten prices are sitting at historic highs, with the European APT price climbing from roughly $453 per MTU a year ago to about $3,075 per MTU. Demand tied to artificial intelligence applications is increasingly feeding into the picture, giving the operation a tailwind that extends beyond traditional industrial uses.

The Numbers Tell a Dramatic Turnaround Story

The financials for the second quarter of 2026 illustrate just how quickly the trajectory has shifted. Revenue surged 498 percent to C$43.0 million, up from C$7.2 million in the same period last year and 69 percent ahead of the first quarter. Mining operations delivered C$26.1 million in earnings, flipping from a C$0.9 million loss a year earlier, with a gross margin of 60.7 percent.

Almonty reported net income of C$181.8 million against a net loss of C$58.2 million in the prior-year quarter. That headline figure, however, deserves some context: roughly C$173.1 million of it came from non-cash gains tied to the revaluation of derivatives and warrants. Adjusted EBITDA swung to $17.6 million from an adjusted loss of $4.8 million, while diluted earnings per share came in at C$0.64 versus minus $0.30 a year earlier. Diamond Equity Research, which had already lifted its fiscal 2026 earnings estimate to $0.72 per share back in May, reaffirmed its outlook after the Q2 release.

Funding the Buyback: A Transformative Spring

The scale of the repurchase program is only possible because of the balance sheet overhaul Almonty completed earlier this year. In mid-June, the company closed an oversubscribed placement of convertible senior notes carrying a 2.25 percent coupon and maturing in 2031, raising gross proceeds of $800 million including full exercise of the greenshoe option. By June 30, cash on hand stood at $1.2 billion, a dramatic jump from $268.4 million at the end of 2025.

The company also strengthened its commercial position in July, extending its supply agreement with Global Tungsten & Powders LLC by six years, increasing contracted volumes by 40 percent, and improving pricing terms by roughly 6.3 percent.

Analysts and Institutions Line Up — With One Notable Exception

Wall Street has taken notice. DA Davidson raised its price target to $33 on Thursday, while Oppenheimer followed with an increase to $25. Bank of America, meanwhile, disclosed that it had grown its stake in the company. The analyst upgrades reflect a belief that the operational inflection at Sangdong will continue to show up in coming quarters.

Institutional activity in Q2 tells a similar story. BlackRock, T. Rowe Price Associates, and T. Rowe Price Investment Management all built positions worth tens of millions of dollars. In total, 136 institutional investors increased their holdings while 76 trimmed. That wave of buying stands in contrast to a single insider transaction: director Mark Trachuk sold 200,000 common shares in early July at $24.070 per share, a $4.814 million transaction that reduced his stake by 7.4 percent. The sale is a minor footnote against the broader institutional inflow and the stock's overall upward trajectory.

A Streamlined Listing Structure Emerges

The buyback launches amid a consolidation of Almonty's exchange presence. The Toronto Stock Exchange delisting occurred at the close of trading on July 31, and the Australian CHESS Depositary Interests will follow, with trading ending August 28 and delisting from the ASX expected on September 1. Once complete, Almonty will trade on the Nasdaq under "ALM" and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under "ALI1." The stock also joined the Russell 1000 and Russell 3000 indices at the end of June, a reflection of its growing market capitalization and liquidity.

The combination of Sangdong's operational progress, sharply improved quarterly results, and the capital return embedded in the buyback paints a picture of a company transitioning from development phase to profitable production. The recent price target hikes from DA Davidson and Oppenheimer capture that shifting risk-reward profile — and the repurchase program signals that management believes the market has yet to fully price it in.