PAAS vs WPM: How Pan American Silver and Wheaton Precious Metals Compare (2026)

Same yardstick, side by side (as of July 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: PAAS 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. PAAS and WPM 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 PAAS and WPM 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.

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

Wheaton Precious Metals is a Vancouver-based precious-metals streaming company. Rather than digging mines itself, it provides upfront capital to mining companies and in return receives the right to purchase a set percentage of a mine's gold, silver, or other metal output for the life of the mine at a low fixed price, often a small fraction of the market price. Wheaton then sells that metal at prevailing market prices, capturing the difference as a high, predictable margin. Because Wheaton does not fund a mine's ongoing operating or sustaining capital costs beyond its contracted per-ounce payment, it is largely insulated from cost inflation, labor disputes, and capital overruns that squeeze traditional miners, while still benefiting fully when metal prices rise. As of 2025 its portfolio included streaming and royalty interests across roughly 23 operating mines and about 25 development and other projects worldwide.

Full WPM guide

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

• PAAS drivers: Silver-price leverage; MAG Silver and Juanicipio.
• WPM drivers: High-margin, capital-light exposure to gold and silver prices; A large, diversified, long-life portfolio with embedded growth.

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: 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. For WPM, wheaton's results are driven primarily by gold and silver prices, which are volatile and can fall sharply, compressing revenue and cash flow even though its per-ounce costs are fixed.

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 PAAS if you believe its drivers more; WPM 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 PAAS and WPM guides.

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.

WPM. Streaming and royalty companies like Wheaton typically trade at a premium to traditional miners, often valued on price-to-net-asset-value and price-to-cash-flow rather than a simple P/E, because their high margins, lack of operating-cost exposure, and long-life diversified portfolios command a higher multiple. On earnings, Wheaton's trailing P/E has been elevated, reflecting both the premium sector valuation and strong metal prices lifting the shares. Much of the valuation case rests on an investor's view of future gold and silver prices and on the embedded production growth from streams already funded, including the large Antamina silver stream closed in 2026.

Headline figures (approximate, FY2025 results (reported February 2026) and latest quarter): 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; WPM shows revenue (fy 2025, record) ~$2.3 billion, net earnings (fy 2025, record) ~$1.5 billion, operating cash flow (fy 2025) ~$1.9 billion, production (fy 2025) ~665,000 gold-equivalent ounces.

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