IAG vs SSRM: 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.

Reading it: SSRM 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. IAG and SSRM 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 IAG and SSRM 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.

IAMGOLD Corporation (NYSE: IAG, TSX: IMG) mines gold at three sites and reports in U.S. dollars. Cote Gold in northern Ontario is the growth asset, operated by IAMGOLD in a 70/30 partnership with Sumitomo Metal Mining, and is now one of the largest gold mines in production in Canada. Westwood in Quebec is a smaller, higher-cost underground operation held at 100%. Essakane in Burkina Faso is the cash engine, an open-pit mine in which IAMGOLD's interest was reduced from 90% to 85% in June 2025 when the state took a larger share. The Nelligan Mining Complex in Quebec is the main exploration project and takes roughly ~$24 million of the ~$54 million 2026 exploration budget. The company employs about ~3,700 people.

Full IAG guide

SSR Mining Inc. (Nasdaq and TSX: SSRM) is a precious metals producer headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Following a full exit from Turkey in mid-2026, its producing portfolio sits entirely in the Americas: Marigold, a large open-pit heap-leach gold mine in Nevada; Cripple Creek & Victor (CC&V) in Colorado, bought from Newmont in February 2025 and adding roughly 170,000 ounces of annual gold production; Seabee, a high-grade underground gold mine in Saskatchewan; and Puna in Argentina, which produces silver, lead and zinc concentrates. Year-end 2025 mineral reserves totalled about 11 million gold equivalent ounces, up roughly 40 percent year over year, and 2026 guidance calls for 450,000 to 535,000 gold equivalent ounces on a second-half-weighted profile.

Full SSRM guide

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

• IAG drivers: Cote Gold throughput and the Q4 technical report; Gold price leverage, partly clawed back by royalties.
• SSRM drivers: A cash pile with no debt against it; An Americas-only portfolio with four producing mines.

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: Roughly half of attributable production comes from Essakane in Burkina Faso, where the company states plainly that security incidents continue and that it incurs additional cost moving people, contractors and supplies to site. For SSRM, sSR's revenue and earnings swing with gold and silver prices it does not control, and both metals are near historically elevated levels, so a retrace would compress margins quickly.

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 IAG if you believe its drivers more; SSRM 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 IAG and SSRM guides.

IAG. The trailing multiple looks undemanding, but it is computed on earnings produced at a realized gold price of ~$4,631 per ounce in the first half, well above the ~$4,000 assumption the company used to set its own cost and royalty guidance. Adjusted EBITDA of ~$507.3 million in the quarter and mine-site free cash flow of ~$368.9 million are what retired the credit facility drawing and funded the buyback. Reported all-in sustaining cost of ~$2,271 per ounce is the number to track quarter to quarter, since it includes sustaining capital and royalties and therefore captures the full cost of keeping the ounces coming, unlike cash cost.

SSRM. SSRM's trailing multiple is distorted by the Turkish divestiture and by a gold price well above the level that set its cost base, so trailing earnings are a poor guide to a normal year. A cleaner frame is enterprise value: about $1.78 billion of the roughly $5.5 billion market capitalization is cash, so the operating business is being valued at a far smaller figure than the headline. Free cash flow of about $299.1 million in the first half of 2026, more than double the prior-year period, is the number the market reacted to when shares rose sharply on the Q2 print despite the revenue and EPS miss. Figures are approximate and move with metal prices; verify current numbers before relying on them.

Headline figures (approximate, August 2026): IAG shows revenue (ttm) ~$3.68 billion, reported in U.S. dollars, q2 2026 revenue ~$856.9 million, up ~47% year over year, all-in sustaining cost (q2 2026, incl. royalties) ~$2,271 per ounce sold, vs 2026 guidance of ~$2,000 to ~$2,150, adjusted eps ~$0.42 in Q2 2026; ~$1.98 trailing twelve months; SSRM shows revenue (ttm) ~$1.9 billion, q2 2026 revenue ~$443.8 million, up ~9.5% year over year but below consensus, q2 2026 net income / diluted eps ~$137.0 million, ~$0.66 per share, cash and long-term debt ~$1.78 billion cash, no long-term debt (June 30, 2026).

IAG and SSRM 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 IAG and SSRM exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.