Is AG a Buy? What to Consider in 2026
Short answer
The bull case for AG (AG) rests on Silver and gold price leverage: AG's revenue and margins are tied directly to spot silver and, increasingly, gold prices. Q1 2026 Revenue is ~$477M. If you believe that thesis holds, the real questions become position sizing and overlap, not timing. The main risk to that view: The single largest risk is the silver price itself: a sustained decline would compress margins far faster than the metal falls because mining costs are largely fixed. Whether AG is a buy comes down to whether you believe the thesis. This is informational, not a recommendation, and Walnut is not an investment adviser.
First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE: AG) is a precious-metals producer that operates four underground mines in Mexico: San Dimas in Durango, Santa Elena in Sonora, La Encantada in Coahuila, and Cerro Los Gatos in Chihuahua. The company mines silver and gold as its primary products, along with byproduct zinc, lead, and copper. In January 2025 First Majestic completed its roughly $1.05 billion all-stock acquisition of Gatos Silver, adding a 70% interest in the Los Gatos joint venture and lifting 2025 silver production to a record 15.4 million ounces, up about 84% from the prior year. The investment picture is dominated by the silver price. Because a miner's profit is the gap between the metal price and its cost per ounce, AG's earnings and share price move much more sharply than silver itself, in both directions. Strong silver and gold prices drove record Q1 2026 revenue of about $476.7 million, up roughly 95% year over year, and swung the company to solid free cash flow. That same leverage cuts the other way when metal prices fall, and nearly all of the company's output comes from a single country, Mexico, which concentrates the operational and political risk.
What's the case for buying AG?
1. Silver and gold price leverage
AG's revenue and margins are tied directly to spot silver and, increasingly, gold prices. Q1 2026 revenue rose about 95% year over year to roughly $476.7 million almost entirely on higher realized metal prices rather than volume. This makes the stock a leveraged play on precious metals rather than a stable operating business.
2. Los Gatos integration and scale
The 2025 Gatos Silver acquisition added the Cerro Los Gatos mine and pushed 2025 silver output to a record 15.4 million ounces, up roughly 84% year over year. Integrating this cornerstone asset is central to the company's growth and cost story. Realizing the expected synergies and stable production from Los Gatos is a key driver going forward.
3. Cash generation and balance-sheet strength
Higher metal prices lifted Q1 2026 EBITDA to about $306.8 million and free cash flow to roughly $223.5 million after taxes. That cash funds mine development, exploration, and a small variable dividend that management recently increased. Sustained free cash flow gives the company flexibility to reinvest or return capital if prices hold.
4. Byproduct and gold diversification
Beyond silver, AG produces meaningful gold (about 34,341 ounces in Q1 2026) plus zinc, lead, and copper. These byproducts help offset silver's volatility and lower the effective cost of producing each silver ounce. The gold exposure in particular has become a larger contributor to revenue.
What are the risks to AG?
The single largest risk is the silver price itself: a sustained decline would compress margins far faster than the metal falls because mining costs are largely fixed. Geographic concentration is severe, with essentially all production in Mexico, exposing the company to peso currency swings, mining royalty and tax changes, permitting delays, and local security or labor disruptions. Rising input costs (energy, labor, consumables) can erode margins even when metal prices are steady. As a smaller producer than majors like Pan American or Fresnillo, AG has less operational diversification to absorb a single mine outage. The stock has historically been highly volatile and can move on sentiment and short interest as much as on fundamentals.
How is AG valued? (as of Q1 2026)
Snapshot for AG as of July 2026, sourced from Yahoo Finance and may be delayed. Valuation figures move with price and earnings; verify the current numbers with your broker before deciding.
- Q1 2026 Revenue: ~$477M
- Q1 2026 Net Earnings: ~$128M
- Q1 2026 EPS: ~$0.26
- Q1 2026 Free Cash Flow: ~$224M
- Market Cap: ~$8-10B
- Forward P/E: ~18x
First Majestic posted record Q1 2026 revenue of about $476.7 million, up roughly 95% year over year, with net earnings near $128 million and EPS around $0.26 as silver and gold prices surged. The stock trades at a trailing P/E in the low 30s and a forward P/E near 18, reflecting expectations that elevated metal prices continue. The dividend yield is negligible (well under 1%), so the return case rests almost entirely on the metal price and production.
How do you decide if AG is a buy?
Rather than asking whether AG is a buy in the abstract, it tends to help to answer four questions:
- Thesis: do you believe the case above, and is it still true today?
- Time horizon: a single stock can be volatile, so a longer horizon absorbs more of the swings.
- Position sizing: a thesis can be right and the sizing still wrong; decide how much of your portfolio one name should be.
- Overlap: check whether you already hold AG indirectly through an index or sector ETF before adding more.
For the full picture, see the AG stock guide (what the company does, the ETFs that hold it, similar stocks, and the themes it fits). In Walnut you can ask its AI about AG against your real portfolio and see your actual exposure before deciding.
The bottom line on AG
The bottom line: AG's story right now is Silver and gold price leverage, with q1 2026 revenue at ~$477M. If you believe that narrative continues, the call is about sizing AG sensibly and checking overlap with what you own; if you doubt it (the risk: the single largest risk is the silver price itself: a sustained decline would compress margins far faster than the metal falls because mining costs are largely fixed.), it is not for you. Decide from the thesis, not the ticker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.
Build a basket around AG with Walnut
Use AG as one constituent in a thematic basket Walnut's AI helps you assemble. Describe a thesis you believe in, the AI proposes the holdings and weights, and you approve before any broker order.
FAQ
Is AG a good stock to buy right now?
+
The case for AG right now is Silver and gold price leverage, with q1 2026 revenue at ~$477M. If you believe that thesis holds, AG is a way to own it and the real questions are sizing and overlap, not timing; the main risk to that view is the single largest risk is the silver price itself: a sustained decline would compress margins far faster than the metal falls because mining costs are largely fixed. So it comes down to whether you believe the thesis. Walnut is not an investment adviser and this is not a recommendation.
What does AG do?
+
First Majestic Silver Corp.
What are the main risks of AG?
+
The single largest risk is the silver price itself: a sustained decline would compress margins far faster than the metal falls because mining costs are largely fixed. Geographic concentration is severe, with essentially all production in Mexico, exposing the company to peso currency swings, mining royalty and tax changes, permitting delays, and local security or labor disruptions. Rising input costs (energy, labor, consumables) can erode margins even when metal prices are steady. As a smaller producer than majors like Pan American or Fresnillo, AG has less operational diversification to absorb a single mine outage. The stock has historically been highly volatile and can move on sentiment and short interest as much as on fundamentals.
What does First Majestic Silver do?
+
First Majestic Silver is a precious-metals mining company that operates four underground mines in Mexico. It primarily produces silver and gold, with byproduct zinc, lead, and copper, and sells the refined metals into global markets.
Why is AG stock so volatile?
+
Because a miner earns the spread between metal prices and largely fixed costs, its profits swing far more than silver itself. A modest move in the silver price can produce an outsized move in AG's earnings and share price in either direction.
What was the Gatos Silver acquisition?
+
In January 2025 First Majestic completed a roughly $1.05 billion all-stock acquisition of Gatos Silver, gaining a 70% interest in the Los Gatos joint venture and the Cerro Los Gatos mine in Chihuahua, Mexico. It helped lift 2025 silver output to a company record.
How much does First Majestic produce?
+
The company produced a record 15.4 million ounces of silver in 2025, up about 84% year over year after the Los Gatos addition. In Q1 2026 it produced roughly 3.5 million ounces of silver and about 34,341 ounces of gold.
Walnut is informational and is not an investment adviser. This page is educational and not a recommendation to buy or sell AG; figures are approximate and dated, and your own situation, time horizon, and risk tolerance should drive any decision. Verify current data before investing.