NEW YORK, Jan 4, 2026, 16:11 ET — Market closed
- Northern Star shares ended Friday down 8.6% at A$24.43 after the miner trimmed FY26 gold guidance.
- The company flagged unplanned outages across Kalgoorlie, Yandal and Pogo, and warned cost performance would take a hit.
- Focus turns to a Jan. 5 management call and the Dec-quarter report on Jan. 22.
Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX:NST) shares closed down 8.6% at A$24.43 on Friday after the Australian gold miner cut its fiscal 2026 guidance following a weaker-than-expected December quarter.
The reset matters because it points to operational strain across assets that drive cash flow, from the Kalgoorlie Super Pit in Western Australia to the Pogo mine in Alaska. Investors also have limited clarity on costs until the company updates its numbers later this month.
Markets are closed in New York on Sunday, but trading in Australia resumes with a near-term test: management is due to hold a call on Monday to discuss the revised outlook. The next hard update on both production and costs comes with the December-quarter results on Jan. 22.
In an ASX statement on Friday, Northern Star said December-quarter gold sales were about 348,000 ounces, taking first-half FY26 sales to about 729,000 ounces. It cut FY26 guidance to 1.6 million to 1.7 million ounces — from 1.7 million to 1.85 million — and set a second-half target of 871,000 to 971,000 ounces; it also warned lower sales were expected to pressure cost performance.
At the Kalgoorlie production centre, December gold sales were about 203,000 ounces, with about 110,000 ounces from KCGM — the operator of the Super Pit — after a primary crusher failure reduced processing for four weeks, the company said. It expects the plant back to normal in early January, but throughput — the amount of ore processed — to remain variable as it transitions to an expanded mill due for commissioning in early FY27.
Northern Star said recovery work at Jundee was taking longer than planned after an October structural failure in the crushing circuit, while Thunderbox was hit by lower grades and downtime linked to carbon-in-leach tank failures. Carbon-in-leach is a processing step that uses activated carbon to capture dissolved gold.
The update landed against a softer backdrop for the sector, with gold-linked stocks down 1.9% in Australia on Friday, a Reuters report said. Bullion has been supported by rate-cut expectations and safe-haven demand, and “talk about cuts in March” has helped underpin prices, said Bart Melek, global head of commodity strategy at TD Securities. mint
At the midpoint, Northern Star’s full-year guidance is about 7% below its previous target range, leaving less room for fresh disruptions in the second half. Investors will likely focus on whether the company’s cost reset matches the production downgrade — or overshoots it.
Technicians will note the stock traded as low as A$23.67 on Friday and remains below the prior close of A$26.73, with the recent peak near A$28 now acting as an overhead level. TradingView data show the shares hit an all-time high around A$27.99 on Dec. 1.
But the downside scenario is straightforward: if repairs and ramp-ups do not stabilise output, the company may need to revisit guidance again and costs could surprise higher. The next catalyst is Northern Star’s December 2025 quarterly results and revised cost guidance on Jan. 22, followed by its FY26 half-year results on Feb. 12, according to the company’s calendar.
