Almonty Shares Jump 11% as Stifel and Goldman Launch Coverage With Opposing Views

Almonty shares rose 11% to EUR 12.09 after Stifel rated the tungsten producer Buy with a USD 25 target, a day after Goldman Sachs went Neutral at USD 13.

Almonty's stock surged 11% on Friday to close at EUR 12.09, propelled by a fresh buy recommendation from Stifel that stood in sharp contrast to a more cautious assessment issued by Goldman Sachs just one day earlier. According to Reuters, the shares had already climbed noticeably in pre-market trading before extending those gains during the regular session.

The two analyst initiations — arriving within 24 hours of each other — paint starkly different pictures of the tungsten producer's near-term prospects. Stifel began coverage on Friday with a Buy rating and a price target of USD 25.00, citing the company's strategic expansion of tungsten capacity within Western spheres of influence. Goldman Sachs, which kicked off its coverage on Thursday, opted for a Neutral stance with a USD 13.00 target, pointing to an expected normalization in tungsten prices and a slower ramp-up at the Sangdong mine in South Korea than the market is currently pricing in.

Tungsten's Geopolitical Moment

The divergent calls come as tungsten itself has moved to the center of a broader realignment in critical minerals markets. Western governments and private-sector players are stepping up efforts to build supply chains independent of dominant producing nations, a push that Reuters reports has thrust the global tungsten market into the spotlight.

The metal is considered indispensable across a range of key industries — from semiconductor manufacturing to defense and tooling technology — making prices particularly sensitive to any signals of scarcity or a reshuffling of supply sources. This geopolitical revaluation of strategic metals is drawing institutional investors toward producers operating outside established monopoly structures, with supply bottlenecks and trade restrictions accelerating the development of alternative mining and processing capacity across the Western economic bloc.

Sangdong Restart Marks a Turning Point

Almonty's recent operational strides have given the market tangible milestones to weigh. Roughly two weeks ago, the company launched commercial tungsten production at its Sangdong mine, following the receipt of final inspection certificates from South Korean authorities on September 17 for the processing and crushing facilities. That approval cleared the last administrative hurdle for Phase I commercial operations and the sale of tungsten concentrate. It also marked the first tungsten output at the site since 1993.

More than 90% of Phase I production is already locked in under an offtake agreement running 21 years, according to the company.

Spanish Tailings Deal Adds a Second Front

Alongside the Korean ramp-up, Almonty has secured additional agreements to broaden its processing footprint. Also on September 17, the company signed a multi-year take-or-pay offtake contract with Wolfram Bergbau und Hütten AG, a subsidiary of Sandvik, covering the reprocessing of tailings at the Los Santos mine in Spain. The deal carries a minimum volume of approximately 1,720 tonnes of contained WO? and includes a conditional advance payment of USD 3.0 million for the offtake rights.

The combination of the Sangdong restart and the Spanish tailings arrangement underscores Almonty's push to establish production and processing operations across three continents.

A Split Verdict on the Road Ahead

Despite Friday's rally, Almonty shares remain well below their spring highs, though they are up 52% since the start of the year. Whether the upward momentum holds will depend heavily on where tungsten prices head next and on how smoothly the company's new production projects come online — the very questions on which Stifel and Goldman Sachs have staked their opposing positions.