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Diversified global miner spun off from BHP, producing aluminium, alumina, manganese, zinc, copper and nickel.
Diversified global miner spun off from BHP, producing aluminium, alumina, manganese, zinc, copper and nickel.
Sells metals at world benchmark prices, so earnings follow price cycles and power costs, with aluminium and alumina carrying much of the profit. Copper exposure comes from a minority interest in Chile's Sierra Gorda mine, and its largest growth project is Hermosa in Arizona, targeting zinc and manganese.
In one line: Australia's Alcoa/Freeport hybrid.
Moat: narrow (scale, installed base). Long-life, low-cost mines in multiple commodities, though not a low-cost leader in any single one.
Headquarters: Perth, Australia · Founded: 2015 · Employees: 6,867
Size South32 (S32.AX) is an Australia Materials company (Other Metals/Minerals) with a market value of $13.7B, the 29th largest of 316 Australia companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at A$4.44 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares fell 1.1%, against -27.2% for the median peer and +4.1% for the Australia market (cap-weighted) — 2nd highest of 21 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue fell 3.9% over the last twelve months (peer median +28.6%); the operating margin is 14.5% (peer median 14.8%).
Valuation It trades at 12.7× forward earnings against a peer median of 12.3× (10th most expensive of 21).
Price implies For today's price to make sense, revenue must grow about 6% a year for seven years (Req g). Recent delivered growth is +3%, so the hurdle is +3 pp: the price needs faster growth than the company has been delivering — of companies that just grew 25–50% a year, 93.8% slowed down over the next four years.
Capital Return on invested capital runs 2.5 points below its cost of capital (8.9% WACC).
Next results Next results expected around 18 Feb 2027 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2026 | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | A$8.57B | A$8.58B | A$8.92B | A$8.36B | A$8.39B |
| Revenue growth | — | -4% | +7% | 0% | — |
| Gross profit | A$1.25B | A$1.54B | A$1.54B | A$700M | A$920M |
| EBITDA | A$1.88B | A$1.77B | A$1.89B | A$1.12B | A$1.65B |
| Net income | A$1.57B | A$1.58B | A$401M | -A$310M | -A$257M |
| Free cash flow | A$2.33B | A$2.41B | A$522M | A$117M | A$596M |
| Capital expenditure | A$1.61B | A$1.67B | A$1.55B | A$1.71B | A$1.42B |
| Total debt | n/a | A$2.67B | A$2.49B | A$2.34B | A$2.62B |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South32 S32.AX | $13.7B | -1% | -4% | 15% | 12.7× | 6.3% |
| BHP BHP.AX | $203B | -6% | +9% | 39% | 15.7× | -1.0% |
| Rio Tinto RIO.L | $144B | -21% | +11% | 27% | 10.3× | 5.6% |
| Glencore GLEN.L | $78.0B | -14% | +27% | 2% | 10.9× | n/a |
| Anglo American AAL.L | $53.7B | -5% | -14% | 23% | 29.6× | 17.0% |
Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | S32.AX | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | -10.5% | -15.9% | 7th highest of 21 |
| 6-month return | -1.1% | -27.2% | 2nd highest of 21 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -16.7% | -44.8% | highest of 21 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | -3.9% | +28.6% | lowest of 21 |
| Operating margin | 14.5% | 14.8% | 11th highest of 21 |
| Forward P/E | 12.7× | 12.3× | 10th most expensive of 21 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | 6.3% | 11.9% | 5th least demanding of 11 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | +3.2% | +14.4% | 2nd lowest of 11 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | +3.1 pp | -1.9 pp | 3rd most demanding of 11 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | -2.5 pp | +2.0 pp | 7th lowest of 21 |
| EV / EBITDA | 10.3× | 9.2× | 7th most expensive of 14 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | -0.2× | 0.9× | 2nd least indebted of 15 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South32 S32.AX | Australia | $13.7B | -1% | -4% | 15% | 12.7× | 6.3% | +3.2% |
| Carpenter Technology CRS | United States | $13.8B | -35% | +10% | 23% | 20.0× | 17.4% | +16.2% |
| KGHM Polska Miedz KGH.WA | Poland | $14.1B | -27% | +27% | 20% | 6.4× | 1.6% | +9.2% |
| Jiangxi Copper 600362.SS | China | $14.3B | -29% | +14% | 4% | 7.2× | n/a | n/a |
| China Tungsten & Hightech Materials 000657.SZ | China | $13.2B | -34% | +66% | 16% | 21.0× | n/a | n/a |
| Sumitomo Metal Mining 5713.T | Japan | $13.2B | -19% | +22% | 14% | 8.1× | 8.5% | +13.5% |
| Korea Zinc 010130.KS | South Korea | $14.4B | -39% | +53% | 8% | 16.2× | n/a | n/a |
| Boliden BOL.ST | Sweden | $14.6B | -4% | +23% | 16% | 11.3× | 0.6% | +10.7% |
| JX Advanced Metals 5016.T | Japan | $14.6B | -49% | +30% | 11% | 12.7× | 22.2% | -18.6% |
| MMG 1208.HK | Hong Kong | $11.2B | -27% | +48% | 43% | 6.3× | -11.3% | +15.6% |
| China National Uranium 001280.SZ | China | $17.9B | -29% | +15% | 14% | 47.7× | n/a | n/a |
| Lundin Mining LUN.TO | Canada | $18.1B | -18% | +29% | 36% | 14.1× | 15.2% | +13.9% |
| Western Mining 601168.SS | China | $9.85B | -7% | +18% | 17% | 8.2× | -5.6% | +16.5% |
| Tongling Nonferrous Metals 000630.SZ | China | $9.83B | -20% | +46% | 6% | 10.5× | n/a | n/a |
| First Quantum Minerals FM.TO | Canada | $19.5B | -1% | +28% | 23% | 15.2× | n/a | n/a |
| Hudbay Minerals HBM.TO | Canada | $9.35B | -10% | +13% | 32% | 12.0× | 18.1% | +15.8% |
| Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt 603799.SS | China | $9.30B | -50% | +38% | 12% | 9.3× | n/a | n/a |
| Lynas Rare Earths LYC.AX | Australia | $8.58B | -38% | +76% | 25% | 26.7× | 34.3% | +14.9% |
| Xiamen Tungsten 600549.SS | China | $8.55B | -37% | +67% | 10% | 13.2× | n/a | n/a |
| Ivanhoe Mines IVN.TO | Canada | $8.43B | -26% | +109% | 7% | 18.9× | n/a | n/a |
| Hindalco Industries HINDALCO.NS | India | $22.7B | -9% | +20% | 11% | 8.6× | n/a | n/a |