BofA details its top 3 stock picks in the red-hot metals sector

• Precious and industrial metals prices surged in 2025, carrying mining stocks with them.
• The White House's push for more domestic production of key materials is a tailwind for the sector.
• Bank of America analysts are bullish on three under-the-radar mining stocks.

Metal and mining stocks are in the spotlight amid a blistering rally in precious and industrial metals in the last year, and Bank of America has three stock picks for investors looking to ride the wave.

President Donald Trump's return to the White House brought renewed focus on US domestic mining and the supply of critical minerals, and BofA is confident that the mining and metals sector is poised for even more growth in 2026.

BofA analyst Lawson Winder expects the same forces that drove growth for precious and industrial metals miners in 2025 to continue throughout 2026. The list of bullish factors includes industrial policy, more geopolitical uncertainty, and a weakening US dollar, as well as further tariff pressure.

The analyst remains more bullish on large-cap mining stocks. While precious metals are the bank's top sub-sector, Winder and his team are also focused on companies that mine nuclear energy materials and copper.

Here are the banks' top three stock picks in the sector for 2026:

Agnico Eagle Mines

1-year return: +130%
Agnico is one of the world's largest gold miners. It's BofA's top pick for precious metals miners due to both its pipeline of projects and the possibility that it could find even more gold in the near future. Winder also said that the company's management has a track record of meeting or exceeding targets.

Cameco Corporation

1-year gain: +123%
BofA sees Cameco, its top pick in the uranium mining space, as an undervalued play on a fast-growing subsector with significant growth potential.

"We see significant potential hidden value, like its diversified exposure across the nuclear energy and fuel supply chains," Winder said. "We see a sharp H2'26E price recovery for uranium (CCJ's key product), and see the shares reasonably valued."

Freeport-McMoRan

1-year gain: +50%
With copper prices expected to surge in the coming years due to demand from AI producers, BofA sees Freeport-McMoRan as the best stock for exposure to the industrial metal's continued rise.

Winder views the current low price as an attractive entry point and notes that it can also offer investors meaningful exposure to the gold mining industry.

The analyst added that BofA believes one force is particularly likely to keep driving growth for metals and mining companies into 2026, fueling its optimism for the sector.

"There is one consistent theme relevant to the M&M space from the past four years that to us looks to continue and possibly accelerate, that is rising geopolitical tensions," Winder said. "For the M&M sector, this has been particularly impactful in the form of import and export bans and tariffs."