The BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price was in fine form in February.
Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) mining giant closed out January trading for $50.57. When the closing bell sounded on 27 February, shares were changing hands for $58.41 each.
This saw the BHP share price up 15.5% over the month just past, racing ahead of the 3.7% gains posted by the ASX 200 over this same time.
That strong performance also saw BHP retake the title of biggest stock on the ASX (by market cap) from Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) towards the end of the month.
Now, here's why investors have been busily buying shares in the big Aussie miner.
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BHP share price jumps on strong earnings results
The biggest news out from the miner over the month was the release of its half-year earnings results (H1 FY 2026) on 17 February.
The BHP share price closed up 4.7% on the day, with investors responding favourably to revenue of US$27.90 billion for the six months, up 11% from H1 FY 2025.
And earnings leapt 25% year-on-year, with BHP reporting underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$15.46 billion.
On the bottom line, the ASX 200 miner achieved a 22% increase in underlying profit to US$6.20 billion.
This saw management declare a fully franked interim dividend of 73 US cents (AU$1.03) a share, up 30% in Aussie dollar terms and up 46% in US dollar terms.
That passive income payout is still up for grabs, by the way. Though if you want to score the interim $1.03 BHP dividend, you'll need to be fast.
BHP trades ex-dividend this Thursday. Meaning you'll need to own shares at market close tomorrow, 4 March, to receive those dividends. You can then expect to see that passive income hit your bank account on 26 March.
ASX 200 miner embracing copper
One of the standouts from the miner's half year results were its copper earnings.
At more than US$13,300 per tonne, the copper price has gained 40% over the past 12 months.
And the BHP share price has gotten an added boost as the miner expands its copper exposure.
For H1Y 2026, the company reported underlying EBITDA of US$8.0 billion from its copper division. That's up 59% year-on-year, and it's the first time BHP saw copper deliver more than half its earnings.
Management also piqued investor interest on the day after upgrading BHP's full year FY 2026 copper production guidance to between 1.9 million and 2.0 million tonnes. BHP produced 984,000 tonnes of copper in the first half of FY 2026.
