BHP's top earnings item for the first time was copper due to AI. The stock jumped to a record high

Australia's BHP reported revenue and profit growth in the last half of the year above forecasts: the world's most expensive mining company benefited from a jump in copper prices, driven by demand from the artificial intelligence sector. The main electrically conductive metal overtook iron ore for the first time in the revenue structure of the Australian giant, whose securities are traded in Sydney, London and on Wall Street.

BHP reported that its revenue for the first half of fiscal 2026 - the six months ended December 31 - rose 11% year-on-year to $27.9 billion, while net profit attributable to shareholders jumped 28% to $5.6 billion. Both figures beat market expectations, the Financial Times (FT) said.

This growth was largely due to the jump in copper prices (over the past year, the price of the metal has risen by 23.05%, according to MarketWatch data, more than 14% of which copper added over the past three months), as well as a surge in prices for by-product precious metals, including gold, writes Reuters. The head of BHP Mike Henry called the results of the last half of the year "a significant milestone for BHP" - copper for the first time made the largest contribution to the total underlying operating profit of the group and provided more than half of the EBITDA (51%) of the company, ahead of iron ore, indicate FT and Reuters.

In addition, investors were positive about the company's dividends, which exceeded forecasts, and the prospects for large payments to shareholders, despite the decline in iron ore prices, notes Reuters. BHP shares jumped 7.6% to an all-time high at the opening of trading in Sydney. The rise subsequently corrected to around 5%. In over-the-counter (overnight) trading in the U.S. securities traded in the plus by 1%.

Copper has become a "solid profit anchor" for BHP, the FT quoted Saranga Ranasinghe, vice president of Moody's Ratings, as saying. The mining giant is ramping up production of the red metal at a time when the market is in short supply, which "sets the stage for stronger cash flow," she added.

"It was a good result," summarized Argo Investments portfolio manager Andy Forster, who manages a block of BHP shares. - They exceeded all expectations on the dividend".

Rapid growth in demand for copper for AI and clean energy is increasing competition for assets, prompting BHP to focus on this metal instead of cheap iron ore, writes Reuters. Last week, the latter's quotations fell to their lowest since August 2025. In January 2026, BHP raised its copper production forecast for the current fiscal year, citing the strong operational performance of its copper plants (the company now expects to produce 1.9 million to 2 million tons of copper by June 30, which is slightly higher than the previous forecast of 1.8 million to 2 million tons).

According to FactSet, the consensus on BHP securities on Wall Street remains at "Hold" level, but the structure of recommendations has deteriorated over the last month: now one analyst advises to buy American depositary receipts (ADR) of the company versus two analysts a month earlier (Buy and Overweight ratings), and the number of cautious experts (Hold) increased to four. The risk lies in the valuation: on February 16, BHP ADRs closed 18% above the average target price.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor