London, Feb 24, 2026, 08:44 GMT — Regular session
Anglo American shares edged lower in early London trade on Tuesday, even after a fresh broker target hike. The stock was down about 0.1% at 3,645 pence, after a prior close of 3,650 pence, with the day’s range so far between 3,638 and 3,686 pence. (Investing)
The timing matters because mining investors have snapped back to copper exposure, and the biggest diversified groups are being judged on how quickly they can tilt portfolios toward it without blowing out spending. Anglo American’s name keeps coming up, partly because it has copper assets that bigger rivals have tried to buy.
It also matters because the company is still trying to turn itself into something simpler: more copper and iron ore, less everything else. That clean-up is where the next rerating lives, or dies, depending on execution.
Deutsche Bank Research raised its Anglo American price target to 3,600 pence from 3,500 pence and kept a “buy” rating, according to a London broker ratings roundup on Monday. A price target is a broker’s estimate of where a share could trade, often over roughly a year. (Shareprices)
Copper is the backdrop. London copper futures ended Monday at $12,868.50 a metric ton, about 11% below a January record, after a run that has pushed prices sharply higher since last April, Reuters columnist Clyde Russell wrote. In the same piece, he said BHP proposed buying Anglo American in 2024 and 2025 but walked away from a projected $53 billion deal, and that Anglo is pursuing its own $53 billion tie-up with Canada’s Teck Resources. (Reuters)
Anglo American’s reshaping has not been painless. It posted a $3.7 billion loss after taking another $2.3 billion writedown on its De Beers diamonds unit, and cut its dividend to $0.23 per share, a Reuters report showed. “There is at the moment a plentiful supply of rough diamonds in the market,” chief executive Duncan Wanblad said, as the company pressed on with plans to sell De Beers and work through approvals on the Teck deal. (Reuters)
The company has also tried to put a floor under its UK crop nutrients bet. Anglo American signed an investment agreement with Mitsubishi Corp for the Woodsmith fertiliser project, with Mitsubishi set to help fund work on the feasibility study and evaluate whether to increase its equity exposure when Anglo reaches a final investment decision, currently expected from 2028. “Mitsubishi has shown such confidence in the enormous potential of Woodsmith,” Tom McCulley, chief executive of Anglo’s crop nutrients business, said. (Anglo American)
But the downside case is easy to sketch. A pullback in copper, a slower path to asset sales, or a lower-than-expected valuation for De Beers could drag attention back to cash demands and timetable risk, not the long-term copper story.
For traders, the near-term tells are simpler: copper prices, any update on the De Beers process, and whether more brokers follow Deutsche Bank in nudging numbers higher. Moves in big peers such as BHP and Rio Tinto feed into the read-across, because the market is treating copper exposure like a scoreboard.
The next fixed company catalyst is Anglo American’s first-quarter production report on April 28, scheduled for 06:00 GMT on its investor calendar. Investors will be looking for copper volumes, cost signals and any fresh comment on portfolio changes. (Anglo American)
