Silver Market Faces Sixth Consecutive Supply Deficit in 2026
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Feb 19 2026
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Should l Buy HL?
Source: Newsfilter
- Supply-Demand Imbalance: The silver market is projected to face its sixth consecutive annual supply deficit in 2026, with cumulative shortfalls exceeding 800 million ounces over the past five years, equivalent to an entire year of global mine production, indicating that industrial demand from solar panels and electric vehicles is growing faster than new supply.
- Americore Resources Discovery: Americore Resources has uncovered five historic core holes at its Trinity Silver Project in Nevada that were previously overlooked, with Hole SC-4 returning 209.5 feet grading 145.98 g/t silver, potentially significantly increasing the existing 36 million-ounce silver equivalent resource estimate.
- Wheaton Precious Metals Performance: Wheaton Precious Metals reported production of approximately 691,670 gold equivalent ounces in 2025, exceeding its guidance of 670,000 GEOs, and has acquired an additional silver stream from the Antamina mine through a new partnership with BHP, projecting production of 860,000 to 940,000 GEOs in 2026, showcasing strong growth potential.
- Hecla Mining Growth: Hecla Mining achieved silver production of 17 million ounces in 2025, exceeding 2024 production by over 5%, and outlined its strategic plan for 2026 to 2028 at its Investor Day, indicating continued investment in domestic silver production amid increasing supply security concerns.
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Analyst Views on HL
Wall Street analysts forecast HL stock price to fall
7 Analyst Rating
2 Buy
4 Hold
1 Sell
Hold
Current: 24.630
Low
16.00
Averages
23.93
High
36.50
Current: 24.630
Low
16.00
Averages
23.93
High
36.50
About HL
Hecla Mining Company is a silver producer in the United States and Canada. The Company discovers, acquires and develops mines and other mineral interests and produces and markets concentrates containing silver, gold, lead, zinc and copper; carbon material containing silver and gold, and unrefined dore containing silver and gold. The Company's segments include Greens Creek, Lucky Friday, Keno Hill and Casa Berardi. The Greens Creek operation is located on Admiralty Island, near Juneau, Alaska. The Greens Creek ore body contains silver, zinc, gold and lead. The Lucky Friday mine is a deep underground silver, lead, and zinc mine located in the Coeur d’Alene Mining District in northern Idaho. The Casa Berardi mine is an underground/open-pit gold mine located in western Quebec. It owns 100% of the Keno Hill Silver Project, which is located within the Keno Hill Silver District in Canada’s Yukon Territory. The Company also owns a number of exploration and pre-development projects.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
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