Buy Or Fear Wheaton Precious Metals Stock?

Core Viewpoint - Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM) stock is considered appealing yet unpredictable due to its high valuation, making it a challenging investment choice at the current price of approximately 76 [1][11]. Valuation Comparison - WPM stock has a price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 30.5, significantly higher than the S&P 500's 2.8 [3] - The price-to-free cash flow (P/FCF) ratio for WPM is 39.1 compared to 17.6 for the S&P 500 [3] - WPM's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio stands at 56.0, while the S&P 500's is 24.5 [3] Revenue Growth - WPM's revenues have grown at an average rate of 2.0% over the last three years, compared to 6.2% for the S&P 500 [4] - Revenues increased by 29.7% from 1.0 billion to $1.3 billion in the last 12 months, contrasting with a 5.3$381 million from 313 million a year prior, while the S&P 500 saw a 4.9% improvement [4] Profitability Metrics - WPM's operating income over the last four quarters reached 669 million, reflecting an operating margin of 55.0%, compared to 13.1% for the S&P 500 [5] - The operating cash flow (OCF) during this period was $950 million, indicating an OCF margin of 78.1$609 million, suggesting a net income margin of 50.1%, while the S&P 500's margin is 11.3% [5] Financial Stability - WPM's debt stood at $5.7 million at the end of the most recent quarter, with a market capitalization of$36 billion, resulting in a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.0% compared to 21.5% for the S&P 500 [8] - Cash and cash equivalents account for $818 million of the total assets of$7.4 billion, leading to a cash-to-assets ratio of 9.4%, compared to 15.0% for the S&P 500 [8] Downturn Resilience - WPM stock has shown more resilience than the S&P 500 during recent downturns, with a notable decline of 43.8% during the inflation shock of 2022, compared to a 25.4% drop for the S&P 500 [10] - The stock fully rebounded to its pre-crisis peak by April 2023 and reached a high of $85.77 in May 2025 [10] - During the COVID pandemic, WPM stock fell 28.7%, recovering fully by April 2020, while the S&P 500 experienced a 33.9% decline [10] Overall Performance Assessment - WPM's performance across various parameters is rated as follows: Growth - Very Strong, Profitability - Extremely Strong, Financial Stability - Very Strong, Downturn Resilience - Strong, Overall - Very Strong [13]