NEW YORK, Dec. 28, 2025, 12:13 a.m. ET — Market closed
Hecla Mining Company (NYSE: HL) heads into the final Monday trading session of 2025 with a familiar tailwind and a new complication: silver just posted another historic move, but U.S. equity markets are now shut until the opening bell on Monday—leaving investors to price weekend headlines, thin holiday liquidity, and a commodity rally that’s moving faster than many Wall Street models can update.
HL stock last finished regular trading at $20.20 on Friday (Dec. 26), up 1.87% on the day. After-hours trading showed $20.25 as of 7:59 p.m. ET. With the stock recently trading inside a 52-week range of $4.46 to $21.19, Hecla is sitting near its highs—exactly the zone where both momentum buyers and profit-takers tend to get loud. [1]
The big driver: silver just smashed fresh records
The most market-moving story in the last 24–48 hours hasn’t been a company press release—it’s the metal.
On Friday, spot silver surged above $77/oz and hit an all-time high around $77.40/oz, according to Reuters, with the move tied to expectations of U.S. rate cuts, a softer dollar, and geopolitical risk that boosted safe-haven demand. Reuters also cited Peter Grant, vice president and senior metals strategist at Zaner Metals, who said “$80 in silver is within reach by year-end”—a punchy forecast that helps explain why miners remain highly reactive into year-end positioning. [2]
In the same global-market wrap-up, Reuters noted that precious metals’ breakout came alongside major U.S. equity indexes holding near record levels in light post-holiday trading—an environment that can amplify commodity-linked equities because volumes are thinner and marginal orders have outsized impact. [3]
For Hecla investors, this matters because HL is effectively a levered operating bet on silver prices: when silver rises faster than costs, miners’ margins can expand disproportionately—especially for producers with meaningful byproduct credits (lead and zinc) that can offset reported silver costs.
Why Hecla stands out among silver miners
Hecla has positioned itself as a premier North American precious-metals producer, describing itself as the largest silver producer in the United States and Canada, with operating mines in Alaska, Idaho, Quebec, and Yukon. [4]
That geographic footprint is one reason HL often ends up on “watch lists” during metal spikes. In a MarketBeat screen updated Dec. 27, Hecla was flagged among the mining names showing the highest recent dollar trading volume, alongside much larger industry names—an indicator that liquidity and attention are elevated heading into Monday. [5]
The fundamentals under the hood: low costs, rising cash flow, and a tighter balance sheet
Hecla’s most recent quarterly results provide the operational context for why the stock can move sharply when silver rips.
In its third-quarter 2025 earnings release, Hecla reported sales of $409.5 million and net income applicable to common stockholders of $100.6 million. The company also reported silver cash costs of ($2.03) per ounce (after byproduct credits) and silver AISC (all-in sustaining cost) of $11.01 per ounce, along with adjusted EBITDA of $195.7 million. [6]
Just as important for investors who’ve been burned by miners’ balance sheets in past cycles: Hecla said its net leverage ratio improved to 0.3x and that it ended the quarter with $133.9 million in cash and cash equivalents, including no draw on its revolving credit facility. [7]
That mix—high realized metal prices + comparatively low costs + improved leverage—helps explain why HL has become a “go-to” equity proxy when silver volatility spikes.
What analysts are saying: targets are… awkwardly behind the tape
Here’s the reality that’s making some investors squint: many published 12‑month price targets sit well below HL’s current trading level, which can look bearish at first glance—but may also reflect stale forecasts that haven’t caught up to the magnitude of the metals rally.
- StockAnalysis lists a consensus “Buy” rating from seven analysts, but shows an average price target of $11.14, noting targets were last updated Nov. 25, 2025. [8]
- MarketBeat’s consensus snapshot shows an average price target of $10.22 (from nine analysts in its dataset). [9]
- A TipRanks feature from the past 48 hours argues silver miners could benefit from a 2026 supply squeeze and notes that Hecla’s average target price was listed around $15.42, while also cautioning that analysts may not have fully updated forecasts after silver’s “generational run.” [10]
Meanwhile, when you look under the consensus hood, you can see that some firms have moved targets upward in recent months. StockAnalysis’ forecast table shows, for example, Cosmos Chiu (CIBC) with a target moving $15 → $17 (Hold, maintained) and Heiko F. Ihle (H.C. Wainwright & Co.) moving $13 → $17 (Strong Buy, maintained) in November. [11]
Hecla itself publishes an analyst coverage roster that includes firms such as BMO Capital Markets, CIBC World Markets, RBC Capital Markets, Scotiabank, TD Securities, Roth Capital Partners, Canaccord Genuity, and others—useful if you’re tracking which desks may update models after major commodity moves. [12]
Investor takeaway: the “target price vs. current price” gap is real—but it may be telling you less about near-term direction and more about how violently silver has repriced versus the cadence of analyst updates.
What to know before the next session opens
Because U.S. markets are closed right now, HL investors are essentially in “setup mode” for Monday. Here are the catalysts and conditions that matter most when the market reopens:
1) Silver’s next move can set the tone for the open.
Friday’s record print in silver is the headline. If silver extends gains when trading resumes on global venues, miners often see gap-ups at the U.S. open; if silver cools, miners can retrace quickly. Reuters highlighted the risk of profit-taking in thin year-end markets, even as strategists said the broader trend remained strong. [13]
2) Year-end liquidity is thin—and that can exaggerate HL swings.
Reuters emphasized that late-December sessions can be light on catalysts and heavy on positioning. Carson Group’s Ryan Detrick described the period as one where markets can “catch their breath,” and warned that volatility is the “toll” investors pay for gains—language that fits commodity-linked names especially well. [14]
3) Macro “rate-cut math” is still the gravity well for precious metals.
In its week-ahead preview, Reuters reported investors were watching for Federal Reserve minutes and tracking how the rate outlook shapes the dollar and real yields—two inputs that often matter for gold and silver. Reuters quoted Paul Nolte (Murphy & Sylvest Wealth Management) and Michael Reynolds (Glenmede) on momentum and the market’s focus on the pace of rate cuts. [15]
4) Watch the tape around HL’s recent highs.
With HL near its 52‑week high ($21.19), price discovery can get jumpy. Breakouts can accelerate on momentum; failed breakouts can trigger fast pullbacks as traders lock in gains. [16]
The valuation question: great metals, great execution—how much is already priced in?
HL is no longer a sleepy miner trading on optionality alone. At roughly $20/share and about $13.54B market cap, HL is a big, widely followed vehicle for investors who want equity exposure to silver. [17]
That comes with a valuation debate. StockAnalysis shows a trailing P/E around 65 and a forward P/E around 25.6, which signals the market is paying for growth—or at least for sustained high metal prices—rather than treating this as a pure cyclical. [18]
So the key question into Monday isn’t “Is silver bullish?” (it clearly has been). It’s whether the next leg higher in metals can keep outpacing expectations without triggering a wave of profit-taking and model revisions that lag the tape.
Bottom line for HL stock heading into Monday
With markets closed for the weekend, Hecla Mining stock enters Monday set up as a high-sensitivity trade on silver’s historic surge, framed by thin year-end liquidity and a U.S. equity market still hovering near record territory. [19]
If silver stays firm, HL has the operational narrative (low costs, improved leverage) that momentum investors love. If silver cools, HL’s proximity to its 52-week high and the “targets below price” optics could intensify volatility—especially in holiday-thin trading.
Either way, Monday’s open is less about corporate headlines and more about the metal, the macro, and the market’s appetite for risk as 2025 closes out. [20]
References
1. stockanalysis.com, 2. www.reuters.com, 3. www.reuters.com, 4. www.hecla.com, 5. www.marketbeat.com, 6. s29.q4cdn.com, 7. s29.q4cdn.com, 8. stockanalysis.com, 9. www.marketbeat.com, 10. www.tipranks.com, 11. stockanalysis.com, 12. www.hecla.com, 13. www.reuters.com, 14. www.reuters.com, 15. www.reuters.com, 16. stockanalysis.com, 17. stockanalysis.com, 18. stockanalysis.com, 19. www.reuters.com, 20. www.reuters.com
