Shares in both BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO) are up strongly over the past 12 months, with both racking up gains of more than 40%.
But while both remain major iron ore producers, they have diversified their other income streams to the point where a different investment case can be made for each.
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Major miners both kicking goals
Canaccord Genuity has just released a new research report into the companies, and said when it came to iron ore, it is no longer the majority revenue generator for each company.
The broker commented:
Nearly 60% of each company's EBITDA came from future-facing commodities over the six months to end-June 2026, with copper central to this transformation. This changes the investment case for BHP and RIO, which both increasingly provide upstream exposure to prominent structural growth thematics including electrification and the AI infrastructure build-out. In our view, their evolving earnings profiles also warrant a different valuation framework, with a greater contribution from copper supporting structurally higher earnings multiples.
Canaccord Genuity said BHP and Rio outperformed the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) by about 50% over the past 12 months, despite iron ore tracking slightly lower.
The broking house said copper accounted for 57% of earnings at BHP and 36% at Rio, while aluminium accounted for 20% of Rio's earnings.
Lithium was also emerging as an important commodity for Rio.
Canaccord Genuity said:
The shifts in both companies' earnings mixes reflect years of disciplined capital allocation through organic project development and selective M&A, including BHP's acquisition of OZ Minerals in 2023 and RIO's acquisition of Arcadium Lithium in 2025, alongside support from commodity price tailwinds.
Canaccord Genuity said copper was the central focus of BHP's organic growth strategy, with projects under development in South Australia, Chile and Argentina.
The broker said Rio's growth strategy was broader, "spanning copper, Simandou in iron ore, the Arcadium portfolio in lithium, and aluminium''.
Canaccord Genuity added:
BHP and RIO are targeting broadly comparable copper production growth of ~20–25% by 2030 relative to FY26 levels, supported by brownfield expansions, operational ramp-ups and the development of their respective copper portfolios.
Canaccord Genuity also noted that copper producers generally traded at higher multiples than iron ore companies, reflecting copper's more attractive long-term fundamentals.
The broker said it preferred BHP to Rio, despite both being compelling propositions, because BHP was the highest-quality diversified miner, with a strong track record of operational delivery.
They also preferred BHP because of the central role of copper.
Canaccord Genuity added:
As the world's largest copper producer, BHP provides one of the largest and lower-risk ways to gain leverage to our preferred commodity
