For most investors, how much a stock's price changes over time is important. Not only can it impact your investment portfolio, but it can also help you compare investment results across sectors and industries.
FOMO, or the fear of missing out, also plays a role in investing, particularly with tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.
What if you'd invested in Southern Copper (SCCO) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to SCCO for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?
Southern Copper's Business In-Depth
With that in mind, let's take a look at Southern Copper's main business drivers.
Phoenix, AZ-based Southern Copper Corporation engages in mining, exploring, smelting, and refining copper and other minerals. The company conducts exploration activities in Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru.
Southern Copper has the largest copper reserves in the industry and operates high-quality, world-class assets in investment grade countries, such as Mexico and Peru.
Southern Copper reports results under three reportable segments. Each consist of a groups of mines with similar economic characteristics, type of products, processes and support facilities, regulatory environments as well as employee bargaining contracts.
Peruvian operations (around 36% of the company's revenues) includes the Toquepala and Cuajone mine complexes and the smelting and refining plants, industrial railroad and port facilities that service both mines. The Peruvian operations produce copper, with significant by-product production of molybdenum, silver and other materials.
Mexican Open-Pit (58% of revenues) includes La Caridad and Buenavista mine complexes, the smelting and refining plants and support facilities, which service both mines. The Mexican open pit operations produce copper, with significant by-product production of molybdenum, silver and other materials.
Mexican underground operations (6% of revenues) (IMMSA unit) includes five underground mines that produce zinc, lead, copper, silver and gold, a coal mine which produces coal and coke, and several industrial processing facilities for zinc, copper and silver.
The geographic breakdown of the company’s sales is as follows – Americas (50% of revenues), Europe (32%) and Asia (18%).
Approximately 80% of the company’s revenue come from the sale of copper, 6% from molybdenum and 10% from silver and zinc.
Bottom Line
Putting together a successful investment portfolio takes a combination of research, patience, and a little bit of risk. For Southern Copper, if you bought shares a decade ago, you're likely feeling really good about your investment today.
According to our calculations, a $1000 investment made in November 2015 would be worth $5,257.72, or a gain of 425.77%, as of November 12, 2025, and this return excludes dividends but includes price increases.
Compare this to the S&P 500's rally of 229.96% and gold's return of 265.79% over the same time frame.
Looking ahead, analysts are expecting more upside for SCCO.
Southern Copper's results this year will benefit from strong momentum in metal prices. The company expects higher production of silver, zinc and molybdenum, which should offset a minor decline in copper output. Reflecting this, the earnings estimates for Southern Copper for the current year have undergone positive revisions. Copper demand remains strong, driven by U.S. infrastructure spending and the global transition to clean energy. A potential supply deficit is expected to support prices further. The recent inclusion of copper and silver in the list of critical minerals underscores their strategic importance. With vast copper reserves and more than $15 billion in planned investments across Peru and Mexico this decade, it is well-positioned for long-term growth. The company's ongoing efforts to lower debt levels are also commendable.
The stock is up 5.94% over the past four weeks, and no earnings estimate has gone lower in the past two months, compared to 3 higher, for fiscal 2025. The consensus estimate has moved up as well.
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Southern Copper Corporation (SCCO): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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