AYA vs FSM: How Aya Gold & Silver and Fortuna Mining Corp Compare (2026)

Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

Reading it: FSM is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. AYA and FSM share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined AYA and FSM exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Aya Gold & Silver Inc. operates the Zgounder silver mine in Morocco's Anti-Atlas belt, which was expanded to roughly 2,000 tonnes per day and is now running at record throughput. Zgounder accounts for essentially all of the company's revenue, about $281 million of roughly $286 million on a trailing basis. The second asset, Boumadine, is a polymetallic deposit carrying silver, gold, zinc and lead that is being drilled toward a feasibility study, with a small commercial contribution already coming from reclaiming and selling a legacy pyrite stockpile. Aya has spent 2026 enlarging its footprint around both, growing its Moroccan land package by about 35% in August to over 991 square kilometres. The company keeps its Toronto listing and moved off the OTCQX market, where it traded as AYASF, when the Nasdaq listing went live.

Full AYA guide

Fortuna Mining Corp. (formerly Fortuna Silver Mines) is a Canada-based, mid-tier precious and base metals producer that trades on the NYSE and TSX. Its ongoing operations are the Seguela gold mine in Cote d'Ivoire (its flagship, lowest-cost asset), the Lindero gold heap-leach mine in Argentina, and the Caylloma silver, zinc and lead mine in Peru. Over 2025 the company reshaped its portfolio, selling the San Jose silver mine in Mexico and the Yaramoko gold mine in Burkina Faso to shed higher-cost, shorter-life assets and concentrate on lower-cost gold ounces. It is also advancing the Diamba Sud gold project in Senegal as its next growth engine.

Full FSM guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• AYA drivers: Zgounder running at record rates; Boumadine as the second mine.
• FSM drivers: Gold price leverage and record cash flow; Seguela as the low-cost flagship.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: Almost everything depends on one mine in one country. For FSM, fSM's mines sit in jurisdictions with meaningful political, tax and regulatory risk, including Argentina, Peru, Cote d'Ivoire and Senegal, where currency controls, permitting delays or fiscal changes can hit economics.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick AYA if you believe its drivers more; FSM if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the AYA and FSM guides.

AYA. The trailing multiple looks expensive and the forward multiple looks ordinary, and the gap between them is the whole story: consensus assumes a full year of expanded Zgounder output at current silver prices. Margins support the earnings, with gross margin near 55% and operating margin near 48%, but 13x sales is a growth-miner price rather than a producer price. Next results are scheduled for August 13, 2026.

FSM. FSM trades at a low single-digit to high single-digit earnings multiple, a discount to the roughly 14x average for US metals and mining, reflecting both jurisdictional risk and the market's tendency to price gold miners cautiously into a high gold-price cycle. The company carries net cash of about ~$493 million and generates strong free cash flow, but pays no dividend, so returns depend on the gold price and execution of its production growth plan. Valuation multiples for gold miners can compress fast if gold prices fall, so the low multiple reflects cyclicality rather than a simple bargain.

Headline figures (approximate, August 2026): AYA shows revenue (ttm) ~$286M, up ~321% year over year, net income (ttm) ~$87M, EPS ~$0.60, market cap ~$3.9B at ~$27 per share, p/e ~45x trailing, ~18x forward; FSM shows revenue (ttm) ~$1.09 billion, q1 2026 revenue ~$342 million (record), net income (ttm) ~$340 million, market cap ~$2.5 billion.

AYA and FSM are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined AYA and FSM exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.