Equinox Gold (TSX: EQX) kicked off 2026 with a sharp lift in earnings and a leaner debt load, extending the operational momentum built through last year’s transformational merger with Calibre Mining.
The miner reported revenue from continuing operations of $861.6 million and net income of $310.1 million, or $0.39 per share, for the three months ended March 31. Adjusted net income from all operations came in at $234.0 million, or $0.30 per share, while adjusted EBITDA reached $527.2 million. Cash flow from operations before working capital changes totalled $341.0 million, with mine-site free cash flow of $408.9 million.
The bigger story sits on the balance sheet. Proceeds from the January sale of the company’s Brazil operations, completed for cash consideration of $891.1 million, funded the repayment of a $500 million term loan and a $261.3 million Sprott facility, leaving net debt of $77 million and available liquidity of $923 million as of April 30. That puts management within striking distance of its goal of clearing the remaining debt this year.
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Operationally, Equinox produced 197,628 ounces of gold in the quarter, including 60,338 ounces from Greenstone, 27,064 from Valentine, 13,174 from Mesquite and 81,280 from the Nicaragua operations, plus 2,299 ounces from Castle Mountain and 13,473 from the divested Brazil assets. Gold sales totalled 199,217 ounces at an average realized price of $4,604 per ounce. Cash costs landed at $1,633 per ounce and all in sustaining costs at $1,950 per ounce.
READ: Equinox Gold Maps Out Decade of Growth for Canadian Operations
Costs ran above full year guidance ranges of $1,425 to $1,525 per ounce on cash costs and $1,775 to $1,875 on AISC, with production targeted at 700,000 to 800,000 ounces for 2026, a gap management will need to close as Greenstone and Valentine continue to ramp.
The quarter follows a 2025 the company has labelled transformational. Equinox merged with Calibre, posted record annual production of 922,827 ounces and revenue of $2.71 billion, and reduced debt by more than $1.1 billion from the second quarter onward. A record fourth quarter output of 247,024 ounces set the table for the Q1 numbers now on offer.
CEO Darren Hall called it a solid start to the year, noting that the two Canadian operations are ramping up well, with 87,402 ounces produced from Canada during the quarter. With gold trading near record highs and the deleveraging program nearly complete, the next test is whether the producer can convert scale into the cost discipline its guidance assumes.
Equinox Gold last traded at $19.58 on the TSX.
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