Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto started Tuesday's regular session lower and ground down to close 3.30% lower at $90.530, pulled by a 7% year-over-year drop in Q2 copper output due to the ongoing Kennecott smelter shutdown, alongside rising Pilbara iron ore costs and Simandou capex concerns. The company maintained FY2026 guidance but lowered its copper C1 cash cost forecast to 30-50 cents/lb from 40-60 cents/lb, signaling cost relief. The day's range was narrow at $0.87, with an intraday high of $91.395 and a low of $90.530, and the stock closed at the session low, suggesting weak buying support. At a PE of 18.13x, PB of 2.91x, and a dividend yield of 4.41%, the market cap stands at ~$180.7 billion. That said, Q4 2025 revenue rose 14.56% YoY to $15.38 billion and operating income climbed 24.19%, underscoring underlying operational strength.

Rio Tinto rose 3.38% to $92.89 during regular trading, primarily driven by a pickup in copper prices that boosted the broader metals sector, with BUZZ reporting copper miners broadly gaining. The stock gapped up from the prior close of $89.85, reaching a pre-market high of $92.93 before steadily climbing to an intraday high of $92.89. The company posted Q4 2025 revenue of $15.38 billion, up 14.56% YoY, and operating income of $3.89 billion, up 24.19% YoY, though net profit fell 5.33% to $2.72 billion and EPS declined 5.55% to $1.66. Despite the strong top-line growth, the stock remains 17.49% below its 52-week high of $112.58, while trading below both its 20-day MA of $95.28 and 60-day MA of $100.70, suggesting the recovery has yet to reverse the medium-term weakness. However, multiple analysts including Morgans, Barclays, Macquarie, and Jefferies have maintained Hold ratings, while Redburn Atlantic recently initiated a Sell, reflecting continued divergence in market views.

Rio Tinto fell about 3.7% in pre-market trading and opened at $87.84 (ET 09:30), dragged down by a decline in copper prices following a Middle East flare-up, which also weighed on other copper miners. The current price of $87.89 is 21.93% below the 52-week high of $112.58 (May 13, 2026) and well below both the 20-day MA ($97.567) and 60-day MA ($101.24), indicating a technically weak position. Separately, the company's collaboration with Sovereign Metals on the Kasiya project has concluded, with Sovereign pivoting toward U.S. critical minerals strategy, though this had limited impact on RIO's share price. Despite the day's decline, the stock remains up 7.93% year-to-date, and trading volume was not notably elevated, suggesting the selloff lacked heavy conviction.