05/07/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/07/2026 13:43
Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
This information should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes to financial statements included in Item 1 of Part I of this Form 10-Q. The discussion and analysis that follows may contain statements that relate to future events or future performance. In some cases, such forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "may," "should," "could," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions. Actual events or results may differ materially. These statements are based upon certain assumptions and analyses made by the Sponsor on the basis of its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors it believes are appropriate in the circumstances. Whether or not actual results and developments will conform to the Sponsor's expectations and predictions, however, is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including the special considerations discussed below, general economic, market and business conditions, changes in laws or regulations, including those concerning taxes, made by governmental authorities or regulatory bodies, and other world economic and political developments. Although the Sponsor does not make forward-looking statements unless it believes it has a reasonable basis for doing so, the Sponsor cannot guarantee their accuracy. Except as required by applicable disclosure laws, neither the Trust nor the Sponsor is under a duty to update any of the forward-looking statements to conform such statements to actual results or to a change in the Sponsor's expectations or predictions.
Introduction
The iShares Silver Trust (the "Trust") is a grantor trust formed under the laws of the State of New York. The Trust does not have any officers, directors, or employees and is administered by The Bank of New York Mellon (the "Trustee") acting as trustee, pursuant to the Third Amended and Restated Depositary Trust Agreement (the "Trust Agreement") between the Trustee and iShares Delaware Trust Sponsor LLC, the sponsor of the Trust (the "Sponsor"). The Trust issues units of beneficial interest ("Shares"), representing fractional undivided beneficial interests in its net assets. The assets of the Trust consist primarily of silver bullion held by a custodian as an agent of the Trust responsible only to the Trustee.
The Trust is a passive investment vehicle and seeks to reflect generally the performance of the price of silver. The Trust seeks to reflect such performance before payment of the Trust's expenses and liabilities. The Trust does not engage in any activities designed to obtain a profit from, or ameliorate losses caused by, changes in the price of silver.
The Trust issues and redeems Shares only in exchange for silver, only in aggregations of 50,000 Shares (a "Basket") or integral multiples thereof, and only in transactions with registered broker-dealers that have previously entered into an agreement with the Sponsor and the Trustee governing the terms and conditions of such transactions (such broker-dealers, the "Authorized Participants"). A list of the current Authorized Participants is available from the Sponsor or the Trustee.
Shares of the Trust trade on NYSE Arca, Inc. under the ticker symbol SLV.
Valuation of Silver Bullion; Computation of Net Asset Value
On each business day, as soon as practicable after 4:00 p.m. (New York time), the Trustee evaluates the silver held by the Trust and determines the net asset value of the Trust and the net asset value per Share ("NAV"). The Trustee values the silver held by the Trust using the price per ounce of silver determined in an electronic auction hosted by ICE Benchmark Administration ("IBA") that begins at 12:00 p.m. (London time) and published shortly thereafter, on the day the valuation takes place (such price, the "LBMA Silver Price"). If there is no announced LBMA Silver Price on any day, the Trustee is authorized to use the most recently announced LBMA Silver Price unless the Trustee, in consultation with the Sponsor, determines that such price is inappropriate as a basis for evaluation. The LBMA Silver Price is used by the Trust because it is commonly used by the U.S. silver market as an indicator of the value of silver and is permitted to be used under the Trust Agreement. The use of an indicator of the value of silver bullion other than the LBMA Silver Price could result in materially different fair value pricing of the silver held by the Trust, and as such, could result in different cost or market adjustments or in different redemption value adjustments of the outstanding redeemable capital Shares. Having valued the silver held by the Trust, the Trustee then subtracts all accrued fees, expenses and other liabilities of the Trust from the total value of the silver and other assets held by the Trust. The result is the net asset value of the Trust. The Trustee computes NAV by dividing the net asset value of the Trust by the number of Shares outstanding on the date the computation is made.
Liquidity
The Trust is not aware of any trends, demands, conditions or events that are reasonably likely to result in material changes to its liquidity needs. In exchange for a fee, the Sponsor has agreed to assume most of the expenses incurred by the Trust. As a result, the only ordinary expense of the Trust during the period covered by this report was the Sponsor's fee. The Trust's only source of liquidity is its sales of silver.
Critical Accounting Policies
The financial statements and accompanying notes are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America. The preparation of these financial statements relies on estimates and assumptions that impact the Trust's financial position and results of operations. These estimates and assumptions affect the Trust's application of accounting policies. A description of the valuation of silver bullion, a critical accounting policy that the Trust believes is important to understanding its results of operations and financial position, is provided in the section entitled "Valuation of Silver Bullion; Computation of Net Asset Value" above. In addition, please refer to Note 2 to the financial statements included in this report for further discussion of the Trust's accounting policies.
Results of Operations
The Quarter Ended March 31, 2026
The Trust's net asset value decreased from $38,046,290,508 at December 31, 2025 to $35,670,754,680 at March 31, 2026, a 6.24% decrease. The decrease in the Trust's net asset value resulted primarily from a decrease in the number of outstanding Shares, which fell from 582,950,000 Shares at December 31, 2025 to 542,000,000 Shares at March 31, 2026, a consequence of 102,900,000 Shares (2,058 Baskets) being created and 143,850,000 Shares (2,877 Baskets) being redeemed during the quarter. The decrease in the Trust's net asset value was partially offset by an increase in the price of silver, which rose 0.97% from $71.99 at December 31, 2025 to $72.69 at March 31, 2026.
The 0.83% increase in the NAV from $65.27 at December 31, 2025 to $65.81 at March 31, 2026 is directly related to the 0.97% increase in the price of silver.
The NAV increased slightly less than the price of silver on a percentage basis due to the Sponsor's fee, which was $52,725,070 for the quarter, or 0.12% of the Trust's average weighted assets of $42,770,619,621 during the quarter. The NAV of $107.35 on January 29, 2026 was the highest during the quarter, compared with a low during the quarter of $60.88 on March 23, 2026.
The net increase in net assets resulting from operations for the quarter ended March 31, 2026 was $497,400,346, resulting from a net realized gain of $26,270,657 from investment in silver bullion sold to pay expenses and a net realized gain of $5,993,405,786 on silver bullion distributed for the redemption of Shares, partially offset by an unrealized loss on investment in silver bullion of $5,469,551,027 and a net investment loss of $52,725,070. Other than the Sponsor's fee of $52,725,070, the Trust had no expenses during the quarter.