Barrick Gold Corporation (GOLD) Fell Despite In-line Earnings Results

Ariel Investments, an investment management company, released its “Ariel Focus Fund” first-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the first quarter, the fund increased +7.45% and fell short of an +8.99% return for the Russell 1000 Value Index and a +10.56% return for the S&P 500 Index. Investor enthusiasm around artificial intelligence (AI), resilient corporate earnings growth, falling inflation, and expectations for interest rate cuts this year led the US indices to outperform in the quarter. In addition, you can check the top 5 holdings of the fund to know its best picks in 2024.

Ariel Focus Fund highlighted stocks like Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:GOLD), in the first quarter 2024 investor letter. Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:GOLD) engages in the exploration, mine development, production, and sale of gold and copper properties. The one-month return of Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:GOLD) was -6.46%, and its shares lost 2.89% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On June 10, 2024, Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:GOLD) stock closed at $16.18 per share with a market capitalization of $29.016 billion.

Ariel Focus Fund stated the following regarding Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:GOLD) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:

"Lastly, gold mining company, Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:GOLD) fell in the period. Although GOLD delivered in-line earnings results, as higher prices offset lower gold and copper volumes as well as increased costs, investors were disappointed with management’s outlook for full year 2024. GOLD guided to flat production year-over-year driven by lower-than-expected output due to a delayed permit at the Nevada Gold Mines and mechanical issues at Pueblo Viejo. Management remains laser focused on upgrading its mining operations and broadly improving efficiencies amid today’s rising prices for precious metals. The company also continues to prioritize capital returns to shareholders via dividends and a recently announced share repurchase program."

Drills extracting gold from a gold mine, revealing the company's gold mining operation.

Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:GOLD) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 51 hedge fund portfolios held Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:GOLD) at the end of the first quarter which was 43 in the previous quarter.  While we acknowledge the potential of Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:GOLD) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

In another article, we discussed Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:GOLD) and shared the list of best international dividend stocks to buy. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

READ NEXT: Michael Burry Is Selling These Stocks and A New Dawn Is Coming to US Stocks.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.