Franco-Nevada Corporation vs RIO TINTO PLC, two Mining stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Franco-Nevada owns pieces of paper that pay in gold; Rio Tinto owns pits, railways, and ports that pay in iron ore, and the paper trades at nearly four times the multiple, 58.5 against 15.3. The economics behind each are honest to their kind: Franco's 82.8% operating margin with 9.3% returns on equity, Rio's 25.9% margin with 15.3% returns and an 11.1% free-cash yield that dwarfs Franco's 4.5%. Both are debt-free. The pair prices the extraction industry's body and its shadow: the shadow costs more per earnings dollar precisely because it cannot stub a toe; the body, meanwhile, is generating most of the actual cash on either page.
Comparison updated 2026-07-10.
| Metric | FNV | RIO |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $215.28 | $93.73 |
| Market cap | $41.5B | $152.2B |
| Sector | Mining | Mining |
| Stage | Cyclical | Cyclical |
| Implied growth (priced in) | — | -3.8% |
| P/E | 58.5 | 15.3 |
| P/B | 5.43 | 2.27 |
| P/S | 31.63 | 2.64 |
| EV/EBITDA | 34.9 | 9.6 |
| Revenue growth | +4.0% | -2.4% |
| Gross margin | 73.6% | — |
| Operating margin | 82.8% | 25.9% |
| Net margin | 54.0% | 17.8% |
| Return on equity | 9.3% | 15.3% |
| Return on assets | 8.6% | 8.0% |
| Return on invested capital | 9.3% | 15.7% |
| FCF yield | 4.5% | 11.1% |
| Debt / equity | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Current ratio | 8.30 | 1.44 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 6.65 | 2.90 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 8 / 9 | 7 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.