SCCO vs TGB: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of November 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: TGB 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. SCCO and TGB 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 SCCO and TGB 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.

Southern Copper (SCCO) is one of the largest integrated copper producers in the world, with operations concentrated in Peru and Mexico. The company mines, smelts, and refines copper and produces meaningful byproduct volumes of molybdenum, zinc, silver, and other metals, which help offset costs. Southern Copper is known for very large, long-life ore reserves and among the lowest cash costs in the industry, a structural advantage that lets it stay profitable across much of the commodity cycle. It is majority owned by Grupo Mexico, a large Mexican mining and infrastructure conglomerate, which influences capital allocation and strategy. The investment case is closely tied to the price of copper, a metal central to electrification, electric vehicles, renewable power, grid buildout, and construction. Southern Copper pursues a pipeline of expansion and greenfield projects to grow output over time, though large mining projects carry permitting, environmental, and social-license risk, particularly in Peru. Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, with primary operations in Latin America, SCCO is a high-dividend, commodity-leveraged miner whose results rise and fall with copper prices. Results in 2026 show the price leverage clearly. Second-quarter 2026 revenue was about $4.29 billion and net income about $1.67 billion, with EPS of $1.99 against a $1.92 estimate, the fourth straight quarterly beat. Volumes went the other way: copper production fell 3.5% to 230,662 tons in the quarter as Peru output dropped 12% on lower grades and recoveries at Toquepala and Cuajone, and 2026 guidance calls for about 917,000 tons, down roughly 4% from 2025. Copper averaged about $6.53 per pound in the third quarter and reached an all-time high of about $6.93 in September. Third-quarter results are expected around October 22, 2026, with consensus near $1.93 per share on about $4.39 billion of revenue.

Full SCCO guide

Trekor Metals, which trades as TGB on NYSE American and as TKO in Toronto and London, is a copper producer with two operating assets it owns outright. Gibraltar, near Williams Lake in British Columbia, is one of the largest open-pit copper mines in Canada and produced about 34 million pounds of copper and roughly 0.4 million pounds of molybdenum in the third quarter of 2026 (up about 12% from the second quarter), after a first-quarter total operating cost around US$2.63 per pound. Gibraltar's 2026 copper guidance was raised to 115 to 120 million pounds from 110 to 115 million. Florence Copper in Pinal County, Arizona is the newer and more consequential asset: instead of digging and milling ore, it pumps a weak acid solution through a permeable oxide deposit and recovers copper from the returning solution through a solvent-extraction and electrowinning plant, producing LME grade A cathode on site. Florence poured its first copper in early 2026, produced about 5.2 million pounds in the second quarter and about 7 million pounds in the third, and declared commercial production on 6 October 2026. Its full-year guidance was lowered in October to 25 to 28 million pounds (from 30 to 35 million) against a design capacity near 85 million pounds, because wellfield expansion is running about three months behind the original plan, even though the solvent-extraction and electrowinning plant has run at design rate for several days. The company also holds the undeveloped Yellowhead, Aley and New Prosperity projects in British Columbia. The Taseko name was retired on 25 June 2026 after a shareholder vote, with the ticker unchanged.

Full TGB guide

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

• SCCO drivers: Low-cost, long-life reserves; Leverage to the copper demand thesis.
• TGB drivers: The Florence ramp is the swing factor; Copper price and the US premium.

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: Southern Copper's earnings and dividend swing with the price of copper, a volatile commodity sensitive to global growth, China demand, and the dollar, so a copper downturn hits results directly. For TGB, the dominant risk is that Florence's in-situ recovery does not scale as modelled: well-field hydrology, solution grade decay and recovery rates at commercial scale are still being demonstrated, and the October 2026 guidance cut (to 25 to 28 million pounds for 2026, with the wellfield about three months behind plan) shows that a shortfall would hit both cash flow and the growth narrative embedded in the share price.

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 SCCO if you believe its drivers more; TGB 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 SCCO and TGB guides.

SCCO. At $203.66 on October 16, 2026, Southern Copper trades at about 30 times trailing and 27 times forward earnings and nearly 14 times book value, a large premium to most miners that reflects its low costs, long-life reserves and record copper prices. Because the dividend rises with earnings, the yield has fallen to about 2.2% as the share price ran ahead. Third-quarter results, expected around October 22, 2026, will show how much of the roughly $6.53 per pound average copper price offset lower volumes and rising costs.

TGB. Trailing EBITDA of roughly $278 million set against only about $16 million of trailing net income is mostly depletion, interest on the 2030 notes and the cost of starting Florence, which is why the trailing P/E is meaningless and the forward multiple near 10x is doing all the work. That forward number assumes Florence reaches design rate in early 2027 and copper holds near current levels, so it is a forecast rather than an observation. Third-quarter results are expected around 11 November 2026, with consensus near $0.18 of EPS on roughly $334 million of revenue.

Headline figures (approximate, October 2026): SCCO shows revenue (ttm) ~$15.8 billion (+41% y/y in latest quarter), net income (ttm) ~$5.7 billion; Q2 2026 ~$1.67 billion, operating margin (ttm) ~61%, eps ~$6.70 trailing; Q2 2026 $1.99 vs $1.92 expected; TGB shows revenue (ttm) ~$985M (Q2 2026 +~185% yoy), q2 2026 revenue / adj. eps ~$331M / $0.11 vs $0.12 est., margins (gross / operating / net) ~47% / ~22% / ~2%, net income (ttm) ~$16M (~$0.02 per share).

SCCO and TGB 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 SCCO and TGB exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.