# Capstone Copper (CSC.AU)

Canonical: https://gigainvestors.com/s/CSC.AU

Analysis as of: 2026-10-16T07:36:43.446Z. Financial observations: FY2001–FY2025.

Listing currency: AUD. Reporting currency: USD.

## Verdict

Not a wonderful business

Quality tests for Buy: not passed (profit record: fail; earnings resilience is evidence only). Published buy qualification: no.

Share price: AUD 12.47 per share; close as of 2026-10-15.

Estimated value: low AUD 6.04 per share, central AUD 8.40 per share, high AUD 9.78 per share. Buy at or below the central value AUD 8.40 per share. Valuation as of 2026-10-16T07:36:43.446Z; scenarios are not confidence intervals.

Expected annual return: 7.7% at the stated quote. About 7.7% a year at today's price (required return 10.0%). required return 10.0% a year (10% floor; AU 10-year bond 5.2% + 4 points).

## Checklist

### understandable: fail

- 2 revenue declines in the last 10 years (informational)

- more than 2 net loss years

- operating margin variation exceeds 0.35

- Financial history: 10 years

- Years with declining revenue: 2

- Years with a net loss: 4

- Operating margin variation: 1.50×

Chart: Operating margin; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: -0.27×

- FY2017: 0.21×

- FY2018: 0.14×

- FY2019: 0.03×

- FY2020: 0.08×

- FY2021: 0.45×

- FY2022: 0.11×

- FY2023: 0.02×

- FY2024: 0.16×

- FY2025: 0.21×

### moat: fail

- ROIC median below threshold

- ROIC worst years below threshold (more than 1 bad year allowed)

- Recent gross margin fell 4.1pp below the typical margin (limit 4pp)

- ROIC, median of available years: 3.4%

- ROIC, second-lowest year: 0.7%

- Typical minus recent gross margin: 4.1 pp

- Typical gross margin (annual median): 17.3%

- Recent gross margin (lower of latest and 3-year median): 13.2%

- Years with nonpositive capital: 0

- Capital spending / revenue: 22.6%

- ROIC including acquisitions, ten-year median: 1.5%

Chart: ROIC excluding acquisitions; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: -12.4%

- FY2017: 7.0%

- FY2018: 4.2%

- FY2019: 1.2%

- FY2020: 2.7%

- FY2021: 35.1%

- FY2022: 3.0%

- FY2023: 0.7%

- FY2024: 3.9%

- FY2025: 7.8%

### economics: fail

- owner earnings cash conversion below threshold

- Owner earnings / net income, 5-yr: 0.44×

- Cash conversion uses consolidated totals: No

- Owner earnings, five-year total: $310M

- Net income, five-year total: $700M

- Return on incremental invested capital: 49.0%

- Working capital / revenue, annual change: -1.2 pp

- Working capital / revenue, change between three-year averages: -9.0 pp

- Working capital / revenue, final three-year average: 4.4%

Chart: Annual owner cash / profit; fiscal year observations.

- FY2021: 0.99×

- FY2022: 0.85×

- FY2023: 3.59×

- FY2024: 0.61×

- FY2025: 0.83×

### management: fail

- buybacks unrelated to price (informational)

- ROIC first 3 years vs last 3 years: 4.2% vs 3.9%

- Per-share earnings: -0.36 to 0.16 (three-year endpoint medians)

- five-year and ten-year diluted share growth both above threshold

- Management verdict uses per-share economic progress: Yes

- Ordinary dilution, 10-year annual growth: 7.2%

- Ordinary dilution, 5-year annual growth: 13.6%

- Diluted shares, 10-year annual growth: 7.2%

- Diluted shares, 5-year annual growth: 13.6%

- Per-share value change: $0.53

- Per-share value, starting three-year median: -$0.36

- Per-share value, ending three-year median: $0.16

- Buyback history: 0 years

- Debt-funded buybacks: No

- Acquisition spending: $7.8M

- Cumulative net income, 10 years: $590M

- ROIC, first three-year median: 4.2%

- ROIC, last three-year median: 3.9%

Chart: Earnings per share; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: -$0.36

- FY2017: $0.14

- FY2018: -$0.05

- FY2019: -$0.04

- FY2020: $0.03

- FY2021: $0.53

- FY2022: $0.18

- FY2023: -$0.14

- FY2024: $0.16

- FY2025: $0.43

### accounting: pass

- latest-year receivables to sales index (DSRI) exceeds 1.465

- Sloan accruals: -3.9%

- Receivables to sales index (DSRI): 1.57×

- Restructuring years, last five: 0

- Stock compensation / operating cash flow: 3.5%

- Earnings backed by cash: Yes

- Operating cash / earnings: 1.86×

- Accounting red flags: 1

- Goodwill and intangibles / equity: 0.00×

Chart: Sloan accruals; fiscal year observations.

- FY2016: -19.1%

- FY2017: -4.1%

- FY2018: -11.4%

- FY2019: -8.2%

- FY2020: -9.7%

- FY2021: -18.9%

- FY2022: 0.6%

- FY2023: -3.7%

- FY2024: -2.6%

- FY2025: -3.9%

## Holders

## Price story

Down 25% since Jan 2026 · sales +52.7%

Story as of 2026-10-16T10:00:07.956Z; price observation 2026-10-15.

Price needs cash profits to grow 11.8% a year for ten years

### Sales · FY2024–2025

sales +52.7%; source https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/; observed 2026-10-16.

- FY2016: $529M 

- FY2017: $430M 

- FY2018: $416M 

- FY2019: $419M 

- FY2020: $454M 

- FY2021: $795M 

- FY2022: $1.3B 

- FY2023: $1.3B 

- FY2024: $1.6B 

- FY2025: $2.4B 

### Gross margin · FY2025

gross margin 22.8%; source https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/; observed 2026-10-16.

- FY2016: 16.6% 

- FY2017: 24.7% 

- FY2018: 18.8% 

- FY2019: 10.1% 

- FY2020: 18.1% 

- FY2021: 45.4% 

- FY2022: 16.0% 

- FY2023: 6.2% 

- FY2024: 13.2% 

- FY2025: 22.8% 

## Owner memo

Memo as of 2026-10-16T08:06:05.509Z.

### How it makes money

Operates in copper; annual sales are USD 2.4 billion.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:36:43.446Z); FY2025: revenue 2442185976; grossProfit 558031355; margin = grossProfit / revenue.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); CSC.AU: Capstone Copper Corp., a copper mining company, mines, explores for, and develops mineral properties in the United States, Chile, and Mexico. The company primarily explores copper, silver, gold, molybdenum, zinc, iron, cobalt, and other base metals. Capstone Copper Corp. is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

### Why customers stay

Margins ranged from 6.2% to 22.8% during 2023–25; it earns 3.4% on its capital.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:36:43.446Z); FY2023: grossProfit / revenue = 6.2%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:36:43.446Z); FY2024: grossProfit / revenue = 13.2%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:36:43.446Z); FY2025: grossProfit / revenue = 22.8%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:36:43.446Z); 10-year return on capital observations [[2016,-0.12359280793017297],[2017,0.06986970231477174],[2018,0.041771056041554906],[2019,0.012061847131222927],[2020,0.02658696400499023],[2021,0.3513459985499032],[2022,0.030021162990583484],[2023,0.0070413908091399744],[2024,0.03876923301534138],[2025,0.07815610122470788]]; median 0.03439519800296243. ROIC follows the displayed moat series; financial companies use return on tangible equity.

### Where the cash goes

Spends 10% of cash earnings on expansion; earns 49% on new investment.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:36:43.446Z); FY2017: growth capex 0; upkeep 74447000; owner earnings 38259194. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:36:43.446Z); FY2020: growth capex 14579560; upkeep 82945440; owner earnings 10576400. Growth capex / owner earnings = 1.3784993003290344.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:36:43.446Z); FY2021: growth capex 40180000; upkeep 93245000; owner earnings 223620800. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.17967917116833496.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:36:43.446Z); FY2022: growth capex 383579000; upkeep 176173000; owner earnings 103547313.85128435. Growth capex / owner earnings = 3.7043838776049745.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:36:43.446Z); FY2024: growth capex 104260480; upkeep 316154000; owner earnings 76297738. Growth capex / owner earnings = 1.3664950329195866.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:36:43.446Z); FY2025: growth capex 27139539; upkeep 510059827; owner earnings 271221610. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.10006407306556435.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:36:43.446Z); Incremental return on capital 0.48983218266302636, from the economics test's unchanged annual inputs.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:36:43.446Z); Dividend observations: [[2016,0],[2017,0],[2018,0],[2019,0],[2020,0],[2021,0],[2022,0],[2023,0],[2024,0],[2025,0]]. Zero only counted when supported by a complete cash-flow statement.

### Are managers owners

Insiders own 0% of the company.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); CSC.AU SharesStats.PercentInsiders = 0 percentage points; cache date 2026-10-16.

### What the price says

The price assumes cash profits grow 11.8% yearly over ten years.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16T07:36:43.446Z); Ten-year compound average after fade. Initial solved rate 0.15646182701138978. Price 12.47; FX 1.4454626926079037; discount 0.1; same standard ten-year fade to terminal 0.03. FY2015 owner earnings/share -0.5963313944401609 → FY2025 0.35392555288958105. Closing-price date 2026-10-15.

## Monthly share-price history (AUD per share)

- 2024-04: AUD 11.20 per share

- 2024-05: AUD 10.97 per share

- 2024-06: AUD 11.00 per share

- 2024-07: AUD 10.15 per share

- 2024-08: AUD 10.45 per share

- 2024-09: AUD 11.82 per share

- 2024-10: AUD 10.97 per share

- 2024-11: AUD 10.51 per share

- 2024-12: AUD 9.81 per share

- 2025-01: AUD 9.40 per share

- 2025-02: AUD 9.09 per share

- 2025-03: AUD 8.51 per share

- 2025-04: AUD 7.73 per share

- 2025-05: AUD 8.83 per share

- 2025-06: AUD 9.42 per share

- 2025-07: AUD 8.56 per share

- 2025-08: AUD 10.86 per share

- 2025-09: AUD 13.09 per share

- 2025-10: AUD 13.75 per share

- 2025-11: AUD 13.19 per share

- 2025-12: AUD 15.16 per share

- 2026-01: AUD 16.55 per share

- 2026-02: AUD 14.70 per share

- 2026-03: AUD 10.32 per share

- 2026-04: AUD 11.65 per share

- 2026-05: AUD 15.14 per share

- 2026-06: AUD 13.38 per share

- 2026-07: AUD 13.69 per share

- 2026-08: AUD 16.24 per share

- 2026-09: AUD 14.30 per share

- 2026-10: AUD 13.51 per share

## Annual estimated value (AUD per share)

- FY2021: low AUD 1.65 per share, central AUD 1.96 per share, high AUD 2.16 per share

- FY2022: low AUD 1.18 per share, central AUD 1.57 per share, high AUD 1.79 per share

- FY2023: low AUD 1.04 per share, central AUD 1.41 per share, high AUD 1.63 per share

- FY2024: low AUD 1.75 per share, central AUD 1.98 per share, high AUD 2.28 per share

- FY2025: low AUD 5.43 per share, central AUD 7.57 per share, high AUD 8.82 per share

Historical values use today's bond yield for every fiscal year

Historical values use today's FX rate into trading currency for every fiscal year

Historical values use current restated fundamentals and current commodity classification; they are not point-in-time estimates

## Sources

Estimates depend on assumptions and are not guarantees or investment advice. Underlying data remains subject to its source licenses; public reading does not grant bulk redistribution rights.

## Reported holder observations