Northern Star shares hit record high on cost guidance update

Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) shares are on the move on Tuesday.

In morning trade, the gold miner’s shares are up over 1% to a new record high of $28.05.

Why are Northern Star shares rising?

At the start of this month, Northern Star released an operational update which revealed that production would be well short of expectations due to a number of isolated negative events coinciding late in December.

This saw the gold miner downgrade its FY 2026 annual production guidance to between 1,600k ounces and 1,700k ounces from between 1,700k ounces and 1,850k ounces.

Negative events that impacted production include a primary crusher failure, recovery works taking longer than planned, and lower mined grades.

At the time, management warned that “lower gold sales across each of the three production centres are expected to impact cost performance.” However, it wasn’t in a position to update its cost guidance at that point. Until now.

Cost guidance update

This morning, Northern Star shares are rising after the company finally unveiled its updated cost guidance for FY 2026.

And judging by the share price reaction, it seems that the update was not as bad as the market was expecting.

Though, a strong rise in the gold price overnight amid increased demand for safe haven assets could be supporting its shares.

During the first quarter of FY 2026, Northern Star achieved an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of A$2,522 per ounce. But due to the aforementioned issues in the second quarter, its AISC increased to A$2,937 per ounce. This brought its first half AISC to A$2,720 per ounce.

In light of this, according to the release, Northern Star’s FY 2026 full-year AISC guidance has been revised to A$2,600 to A$2,800 per ounce. This is up from A$2,300 to A$2,700 per ounce.

Management notes that this has been driven predominantly by lower gold sales and higher royalties from elevated gold prices. With respect to the latter, there will be an additional ~A$40 per ounce in royalties compared to previous expectations.

The company’s FY 2026 sustaining capital guidance of ~A$750 million remains unchanged. This corresponds to ~A$450 per ounce.

Despite its troubles in FY 2026, this hasn’t stopped Northern Star shares from rising almsot 65% over the past 12 months.

The post Northern Star shares hit record high on cost guidance update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.