Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) shares have been ‘top of the stocks’ among AJ Bell investors this week.

But what’s behind this popularity? And will it continue?

Outperformer

To be clear, the mining colossus has been in favour for some time. Anyone buying at the 52-week low set back in late June 2025 will now be looking at a gain of about 80%!

Even those who only bought at the beginning of the year will probably be popping a few champagne corks.

As things stand, the £120bn-cap is walloping the index return. We’re talking about a gain of almost 24% compared to the top tier’s rise of 5%. This is before we’ve even taken into account the near-192p per share dividend received by holders exactly one week ago (16 April).

Although there’s no guarantee this will carry on, it clearly shows that Foolish investors have the ability to 1) beat the market and 2) don’t need to go fishing among highly-volatile penny stocks to do so.

What’s going on with Rio Tinto shares?

This wonderful momentum can partly be attributed to a lovely rise in the copper price. The red metal is a key part of the company’s portfolio and the recent growth in production has reduced Rio’s reliance on iron ore somewhat.

The numbers have also been encouraging. Back in February, the Anglo-Australian firm reported a 7% rise in revenue to $57.6bn. Underlying profit rose 9% to $25.4bn.

It’s not all been plain-sailing though. The outbreak of war between Iran and US back in March hit share prices across the board, including that of Rio Tinto. While we’ve seen a solid rebound in April, this does show how exposed the company is to geopolitical tensions and subsequent economic concerns.

The miner’s income credentials can also be questioned. The total dividend has been up and down over the years. Still, it could be argued that this is to be expected when investing in a company that has absolutely no say over the price of what it digs up. Moreover, the current forecast yield of 4.8% is more than would be received from a FTSE 100 tracker fund (roughly 3%).

At the time of writing, this year’s dividend also looks like it will be covered by expected profit. So there should be no need for managment to dip into cash reserves to fund it.

Still time to buy?

I’ve been bullish on Rio Tinto shares for some time now. Yes, the time to really load up was last year. But I still think they’re worth considering today, albeit within a diversified portfolio. A forecast price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 12 doesn’t feel excessive relative to the rest of the UK market. It’s also pretty reasonable (athough not cheap) among companies in the basic materials space.

But the biggest argument in favour of holding a slice of Rio surely has to be the long-term outlook. While share price movement in the near-term is hard to call, the company’s clearly looking towards the future and planning for the huge demand in metals to support the green energy revolution and ongoing rise of AI. This will include building one of the world’s largest copper mines in Arizona.

Bar any unforeseen disasters, recent gains might be just the start.