Quality Investor

Southern Copper Corporation

Rank #191Hypergrowth

SCCO · NYSE · Basic Materials

Southern Copper Corporation (SCCO) — Rank #191 by gross profitability (GP/assets 0.33) · ROE 34.3% · Piotroski F-Score N/A.

As-of 2026-09-15 · CIK 0001001838 · all metrics point-in-time as of the filing date.

About

Southern Copper Corporation engages in mining, exploring, smelting, and refining copper and other minerals in Mexico, the United States, Peru, Brazil, Chile, and Other American countries.

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The company is involved in the mining, milling, and flotation of copper ore to produce copper and molybdenum concentrates; smelting of copper concentrates to produce blister and anode copper; refining of anode copper to produce copper cathodes; production of copper-molybdenum concentrates and sulfuric acid; production of refined silver, gold, and other materials; and mining and processing of copper, molybdenum, zinc, silver, gold and lead. It operates the Toquepala and Cuajone open-pit mines, smelter, and refinery in Peru; La Caridad, an open-pit copper mine, as well as copper ore concentrator; and SX-EW plant, a smelter, refinery, and rod plant in Mexico. The company also operates Buenavista, an open-pit copper mine, as well as copper concentrators and operating SX-EW plants in Mexico. In addition, it operates underground mines that produce zinc, lead, copper, silver, and gold; coal mine; and zinc refinery. The company has interests in 164,805 hectares and 505,788 hectares of concessions in Peru and Mexico; and 98,634 hectares and 28,453 hectares of exploration concessions in Argentina and Chile. Southern Copper Corporation was formerly known as Southern Peru Copper Corp. and changed its name to Southern Copper Corporation in July 1996.

The company was incorporated in 1952 and is based in Phoenix, Arizona. Southern Copper Corporation operates as a subsidiary of Americas Mining Corporation.

Industry
Copper
Sector
Basic Materials
State
DE
Filer Category
Large accelerated filer
Fiscal Year End
December 31

Price History

SCCO+303.3% · +32.2% CAGRSPY+80.5% · +12.5% CAGR

Company Snapshot

P/S is the primary valuation lens — earnings are reinvested, not available for P/E.

Market Cap

$158.45B

P/E (annual)

35.8

P/S (annual)

11.8

P/B

12.5

P/OCF (annual)

33.3

Shareholder Yield

Employees

16,617

Industry

Copper

Exchange

NYSE

Signal Flags

3 green
Revenue growth acceleratingGrowth rate increasing year over year
Operating leverage expandingOperating income growing faster than revenue
Sequential beat (rev + EPS)Both revenue and EPS exceeded prior quarter — 2-quarter streak

Quality Profile

Profitability

1/1 pass
GP / assets
0.33
Return on equity
34.3%
Gross margin trend
PASS

Safety

1/1 pass
Balance-sheet safety
PASS
Debt / equity
0.90
Current ratio
5.06×
Net cash
-$1.16B

Cash Flow

2/3 pass
Positive FCF
PASS
Cash-backed earnings
WARN
Accruals healthy
PASS
SBC / revenue

Growth

1/1 pass
Revenue growth
149.5%
Piotroski F-Score
N/A
Share dilution

Terry Smith quality gate

Passes 3/5 Terry Smith thresholds

1 of 5 threshold not computable from filed data.

What Growth Is Priced In

Implied revenue growth (10Y)

18.8%

fairly valued

The annual FCF growth rate today's price requires over a 10-year horizon (discount rate 10%, terminal growth 2.5%).

vs. own 6-year median revenue growth: -2.5%

Cost-of-equity sensitivity (implied growth at different discount rates)

r = 8%

13.9%

r = 10% (base)

18.8%

r = 12%

23.1%

Net debt / market cap: 0.8%

Note: current FCF margin is 1.7σ above its historical mean — implied growth may understate valuation risk if the margin reverts.

Base FCF: $3.4B3Y mean FCF: $162.6M

Valuation History

Current multiple vs historical range at each filing date. Band spans 25th-75th percentile.

P / S

Price / revenue per share

N/A
3.8xmed 4.8x7.0x

P / B

Price / book value per share

N/A
6.3xmed 6.6x6.7x

P / GP

Price / gross profit per share

N/A
6.9xmed 8.9x13.9x

P / FCF

Price / free cash flow per share

N/A
17.2xmed 24.6x47.5x

Revenue growth and the path to profitability (margin trend) are the primary reads at this stage.

Profitability

Gross profitability (GP / assets)

0.33

Primary signal (Novy-Marx).

Return on equity

34.3%

Gross margin

60.1%

Revenue growth (YoY)

149.5%

Gross margin improving

Margin trend vs prior year.

PASS

Operating Leverage

2014201520162017
Revenue vs COGS
Revenue vs OpEx
Op. Income vs Revenue

Anti-fragile safety

Balance-sheet safety

Composite anti-fragile check.

PASS

Debt / equity

0.90

Current ratio

5.06×

Quick ratio

4.37×

Net cash

-$1.16B

Cash & equivalents minus total debt.

Cash-flow health

Free cash flow

$3.43B

Operating cash flow minus capex.

Positive free cash flow

PASS

FCF / net income

-0.21

Cash-backing of earnings.

FCF/NI divergence

Unfavorable divergence (yellow flag).

WARN

Accruals healthy

Cash-backed earnings.

PASS

SBC / revenue

Stock-based comp intensity.

Dividend safety

Composite score

2.0 / 5

Fair
Payout ratio
57.3%3/5 Good
FCF coverage
1.38×2/5 Fair
Dividend growth streak
1 yr1/5 Weak
Balance-sheet health
D/E 0.90 · IC N/A2/5 Fair

Piotroski F-Score

F-Score

N/A

Only 8/9 components determinable.

Lifecycle Phase History

20122017
Value
Decline
Capital Return
Op. Leverage