iShares Silver Trust: Form 10-Q for the period ended Jun 30, 2026
Filed with the SEC on Aug 6, 2026 and accepted by EDGAR at Aug 5, 2026, 19:38 ET.
Management's discussion and analysis
As filed, 10,056 characters, with its headings, lists and tables. Extracted from the main document; charts and exhibits are in the original on sec.gov.
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 June 30, 2026
The Trust’s net asset value decreased from $35,670,754,680 at March 31, 2026 to $28,194,188,389 at June 30, 2026, a 20.96% decrease. The decrease in the Trust’s net asset value resulted primarily from a decrease in the price of silver, which fell 19.11% from $72.69 at March 31, 2026 to $58.80 at June 30, 2026. The decrease in the Trust’s net asset value was also affected by a decrease in the number of outstanding Shares, which fell from 542,000,000 Shares at March 31, 2026 to 530,300,000 Shares at June 30, 2026, a consequence of 32,000,000 Shares (640 Baskets) being created and 43,700,000 Shares (874 Baskets) being redeemed during the quarter.
The 19.21% decrease in the NAV from $65.81 at March 31, 2026 to $53.17 at June 30, 2026 is directly related to the 19.11% decrease in the price of silver.
The NAV decreased slightly more than the price of silver on a percentage basis due to the Sponsor’s fee, which was $44,442,928 for the quarter, or 0.12% of the Trust’s average weighted assets of $35,658,035,123 during the quarter. The NAV of $78.53 on May 14, 2026 was the highest during the quarter, compared with a low during the quarter of $51.88 on June 25, 2026.
The net decrease in net assets resulting from operations for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 was $6,752,790,035, resulting from an unrealized loss on investment in silver bullion of $7,795,272,098 and a net investment loss of $44,442,928, partially offset by a net realized gain of $19,200,025 from investment in silver bullion sold to pay expenses and a net realized gain of $1,067,724,966 on silver bullion distributed for the redemption of Shares. Other than the Sponsor’s fee of $44,442,928, the Trust had no expenses during the quarter.
The Six-Month Period Ended June 30, 2026
The Trust’s net asset value decreased from $38,046,290,508 at December 31, 2025 to $28,194,188,389 at June 30, 2026, a 25.90% decrease. The decrease in the Trust’s net asset value resulted primarily from a decrease in the price of silver, which fell 18.32% from $71.99 at December 31, 2025 to $58.80 at June 30, 2026. The decrease in the Trust’s net asset value was also affected by a decrease in the number of outstanding Shares, which fell from 582,950,000 Shares at December 31, 2025 to 530,300,000 Shares at June 30, 2026, a consequence of 134,900,000 Shares (2,698 Baskets) being created and 187,550,000 Shares (3,751 Baskets) being redeemed during the period.
The 18.54% decrease in the NAV from $65.27 at December 31, 2025 to $53.17 at June 30, 2026 is directly related to the 18.32% decrease in the price of silver.
The NAV decreased slightly more than the price of silver on a percentage basis due to the Sponsor’s fee, which was $97,167,998 for the period, or 0.25% of the Trust’s average weighted assets of $39,194,679,349 during the period. The NAV of $107.35 on January 29, 2026 was the highest during the period, compared with a low during the period of $51.88 on June 25, 2026.
The net decrease in net assets resulting from operations for the six months ended June 30, 2026 was $6,255,389,689, resulting from an unrealized loss on investment in silver bullion of $13,264,823,125 and a net investment loss of $97,167,998, partially offset by a net realized gain of $45,470,682 from investment in silver bullion sold to pay expenses and a net realized gain of $7,061,130,752 on silver bullion distributed for the redemption of Shares. Other than the Sponsor’s fee of $97,167,998, the Trust had no expenses during the period.
Controls and procedures
As filed, 1,593 characters, with its headings, lists and tables. Extracted from the main document; charts and exhibits are in the original on sec.gov.
The duly authorized officers of the Sponsor performing functions equivalent to those a principal executive officer and principal financial officer of the Trust would perform if the Trust had any officers, with the participation of the Trustee, have evaluated the effectiveness of the Trust’s disclosure controls and procedures, and have concluded that the disclosure controls and procedures of the Trust were effective as of June 30, 2026, the end of the period covered by this report, to provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed in the reports that the Trust files or submits under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the applicable rules and forms, and that it is accumulated and communicated to the duly authorized officers of the Sponsor performing functions equivalent to those a principal executive officer and principal financial officer of the Trust would perform if the Trust had any officers, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
There are inherent limitations to the effectiveness of any system of disclosure controls and procedures, including the possibility of human error and the circumvention or overriding of the controls and procedures.
There were no changes in the Trust’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the six-month period ended June 30, 2026 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Trust’s internal control over financial reporting.
Risk factors
As filed, 248 characters, with its headings, lists and tables. Extracted from the main document; charts and exhibits are in the original on sec.gov.
There have been no material changes to the Risk Factors last reported under Part I, Item 1A of the registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 27, 2026.
Figures reported in this filing
Standardized line items from the XBRL in this filing, for the period ended 2026-06-30. Comparative periods it repeats are left out.
| Line item | Period | Value | XBRL concept |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net income | 3 months2026-04-01 to 2026-06-30 | −$6.75bn | us-gaap:NetIncomeLoss |
| Net income | 6 months2026-01-01 to 2026-06-30 | −$6.26bn | us-gaap:NetIncomeLoss |
| Basic EPS | 3 months2026-04-01 to 2026-06-30 | −$12.57 | us-gaap:EarningsPerShareBasic |
| Basic EPS | 6 months2026-01-01 to 2026-06-30 | −$11.37 | us-gaap:EarningsPerShareBasic |
| Operating cash flow | 6 months2026-01-01 to 2026-06-30 | $0 | us-gaap:NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities |
Source: SEC EDGAR, the filing index for accession 0001437749-26-026005. Last ingested by Listed: Oct 24, 2026, 15:09 ET. Listed shows no prices and gives no investment advice.