BVN vs PAAS: Which Is the Better Buy in 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.

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. BVN and PAAS 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 BVN and PAAS 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.

Compania de Minas Buenaventura S.A.A. is Peru's largest publicly traded precious-metals mining company, founded in 1953 and listed on the NYSE since 1996 as an American Depositary Share (ADR). The company explores for, mines, processes, and sells gold, silver, and base metals such as copper, zinc, and lead from a portfolio of wholly and partly owned mines in Peru, including Orcopampa, Tambomayo, Julcani, El Brocal, Uchucchacua, and its newest flagship, the San Gabriel gold mine. Beyond its own operations, Buenaventura holds a roughly 19.58% stake in Sociedad Minera Cerro Verde, a large Peruvian copper mine operated by Freeport-McMoRan, and that stake delivers meaningful dividend income when copper prices are high.

Full BVN guide

Pan American Silver Corp (PAAS) is a Vancouver-based precious-metals mining company and one of the largest primary silver producers in the world, with significant gold output alongside the silver. It operates a portfolio of mines spread across the Americas, including Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Canada, Brazil, and Chile. The company makes money by mining and selling silver and gold (plus byproducts such as zinc, lead, and copper at some operations), so its revenue and margins are driven by how many ounces it produces relative to its mining costs and the prevailing silver and gold prices. In 2025 Pan American produced roughly 22.8 million ounces of silver and about 742,000 ounces of gold and reported record annual revenue of around $3.6 billion.

Full PAAS guide

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

• BVN drivers: Precious-metals price leverage; San Gabriel ramp-up.
• PAAS drivers: Silver-price leverage; MAG Silver and Juanicipio.

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: As a miner, Buenaventura's results rise and fall with gold, silver, and copper prices, which are cyclical and outside its control, so a sustained pullback in precious metals would compress revenue and margins quickly. For PAAS, pan American's results are highly cyclical and move with silver and gold prices, which are volatile and outside the company's control, so margins and the share price can swing sharply.

Pick BVN if you believe its drivers more; PAAS 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 BVN and PAAS guides.

BVN. Buenaventura's 2025 and early-2026 results were unusually strong because of high precious-metals prices, the San Gabriel gold ramp-up, and large copper dividends from Cerro Verde, which together roughly doubled profits. At a price-to-earnings ratio near 8x the ADR trades below its own historical average, but that discount reflects the cyclical, price-dependent nature of mining earnings and Peruvian country risk rather than a mispricing on its own. Figures are approximate and drawn from company releases and market data.

PAAS. Pan American's financials are commodity-driven: revenue, earnings, and valuation are dominated by silver and gold prices and by how many ounces it produces relative to its costs. Because it is a primary silver producer with byproduct gold and base metals, it offers operating leverage to the silver price in particular, so earnings can rise or fall faster than the metal itself. Precious-metals producer multiples often look elevated or depressed at different points in the cycle, so reading PAAS means weighing production growth, all-in sustaining costs, and the metal-price environment together rather than a single multiple.

Headline figures (approximate, July 2026): BVN shows revenue (fy2025) ~$1.73 billion, net income (fy2025) ~$782 million, revenue (q1 2026) ~$625 million, net income (q1 2026) ~$335 million (EPS ~$1.32); PAAS shows silver production (2025) ~22.8 million ounces attributable, exceeding annual guidance, gold production (2025) ~742,000 ounces attributable, within guidance, revenue (2025 full year) ~$3.6 billion (record), with net earnings around $980 million, all-in sustaining costs Silver segment ~$14.50 to $16.00 per ounce; gold segment ~$1,700 to $1,850 per ounce.

BVN and PAAS 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 BVN and PAAS exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.