Lawson Winder

Lawson Winder is a senior equity research analyst at BofA Securities in Toronto covering North American metals and mining. His universe spans roughly two dozen companies: gold producers such as Newmont and Agnico Eagle, royalty and streaming companies (businesses that finance mines in exchange for a share of future revenue or metal output) such as Franco-Nevada and Wheaton Precious Metals, and copper, uranium, aluminum and steel names including Freeport-McMoRan, Cameco, Alcoa and Cleveland-Cliffs. For resource investors, his ratings and price targets are a regular read on how a major global bank values the mining sector.

Winder's most visible work is BofA's annual ranking of its top commodity stocks. In January 2026 he named Cameco (nuclear fuel) and Freeport-McMoRan (copper) among the firm's top three picks for the year, alongside a precious-metals choice, while cutting some 30 price targets across his coverage. He is willing to break from consensus: in August 2026 he carried a Sell rating on Royal Gold even as he kept Buy ratings on Wheaton Precious Metals and Triple Flag and raised his Franco-Nevada price target to $279 from $238. Third-party trackers such as StockAnalysis and WallStreetZen report a recommendation success rate near 60% on his calls.

His method is valuation-led. In July 2026 he cut BofA's 2026 gold price forecast by 14% to $4,360 per ounce while still laying out a case for higher prices in 2027. He ranks producers by how much their value responds to gold, using NAV (Net Asset Value — what a company's projects are worth today, less debt and future costs); in late 2025 he flagged B2Gold, Kinross, SSR Mining and Eldorado Gold as the names that gain most if gold holds up. On Franco-Nevada's second-quarter 2026 earnings call, where management pointed to $4.3 billion of available capital for new deals, he was among the analysts questioning management on how it would be deployed.

Winder speaks at industry forums such as the PDAC (Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada) convention in Toronto. Following him gives investors a view into how a major bank's research desk reads mining valuations through a full cycle: which companies look cheap relative to the broader market, which gain most from rising metal prices, and where royalty companies are finding deals. His current focus is the 2026 metals market — BofA's mid-year update under his name kept Cameco, Freeport-McMoRan and Pan American Silver as top picks.