The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, March 20, edition that National Bank Financial analyst Mike Parkin has reaffirmed his "sector perform" recommendation for Barrick Gold. The Globe's David Leeder writes in the Eye On Equities column that Mr. Parkin's share target soared $6 to $33. Analysts on average target the shares at $23.43. Mr. Parkin thinks the main theme stemming from fourth quarter earnings season across the precious metals industry remains cost control, pointing to the recent increase in input costs affecting many companies. Mr. Parkin says in a note: "Overall, guidance came in relatively light to in line with most of our estimates, with the majority of the misses due to higher unit costs and/or capex intensity vs. our prior estimates. We believe, that meeting and/or exceeding guidance in 2025 should prove to be a key focus of the market across our coverage, as a majority of the share price outperformance in 2024 was associated with companies that delivered well to guidance." The Globe reported on Nov. 29 and Jan. 17 that Mr. Parkin rated Barrick Gold "sector perform." The shares could then be had for $24.52 and $23.14.