New York, February 12, 2026, 07:48 EST — Premarket
- Vale shares ticked up roughly 0.3% ahead of the open, changing hands at $17.43.
- The miner will report its fourth-quarter 2025 earnings after markets close Thursday.
- Iron ore prices and clues from China’s demand are in focus for traders ahead of the report.
Vale S.A. climbed 0.3% to $17.43 in premarket deals Thursday, as of 7:30 a.m. EST, with traders positioning ahead of the Brazilian miner’s quarterly results, which are due out after the U.S. session wraps. 1
Why it matters now: Vale’s results drop with iron ore hovering near $100 a ton—any hint of weaker prices or demand hits nerves quickly. If management sounds wary about costs or outlook, the stock tends to react sharply. Moves here often ripple out to peers in the mining sector.
The report lands amid plenty of noise out of China. Iron ore hinges on Chinese steel demand, and lately, investors have been whipsawing between upbeat policy headlines and numbers that still show sluggishness in areas like major spending.
Vale notched a 3.8% gain last session, and now heads into earnings with fewer traders on board than earlier this month. That thinned-out positioning puts extra weight on how the numbers hit — especially any word on dividends or buybacks. 2
Vale plans to issue its fourth-quarter 2025 results after markets close Thursday, with a conference call and webcast set for Friday at 9:00 a.m. New York time. 3
Iron ore prices ticked higher in Asia. Over in Dalian, the front-month May contract added 0.33% to 766 yuan per metric ton. The Singapore Exchange’s March benchmark followed, rising 0.25% to $100.2 a ton, according to Reuters. 4
Consumer data out of China remained shaky. January passenger car sales dropped 19.5% year-over-year. After that slide, Beijing rolled out new guidance to rein in automaker price wars—automakers are heavy steel buyers. “We don’t foresee a loss in momentum for the Chinese auto industry this year,” said Claire Yuan, director of corporate ratings for China autos at S&P Global Ratings. 5
Another U.S. regulatory filing revealed Vale’s reported holdings in its own stock as well as its U.S.-listed ADS (American Depositary Shares), but it didn’t list any transactions for the date in question. 6
Vale tends to move in tandem with the major iron ore players, Rio Tinto and BHP, especially when there isn’t much specific news about the company. That said, if guidance comes out and catches the market off guard, that link can snap fast.
Still, a few hazards linger out of sight. Back in late January, Vale was forced to shut down two mining units following a water overflow that led to a permit suspension. Itau BBA analysts flagged the potential fallout, noting it might mostly be a function of heightened regulatory scrutiny and headline risk, not necessarily a change in the company’s core operational risk. Even so, Vale stuck with its 2026 iron ore production guidance, keeping the target in the 335 million to 345 million metric ton range. 7
The spotlight now moves to the earnings release after the bell Thursday, with Friday’s call expected to draw attention for its take on iron ore prices, unit costs, and any possible changes to shareholder returns.
