Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) Surpasses Market Returns: Some Facts Worth Knowing

Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) ended the recent trading session at $57.93, demonstrating a +2.75% change from the preceding day's closing price. The stock outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a daily gain of 1.01%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a gain of 0.83%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 1.22%.

Shares of the mining company witnessed a loss of 10.28% over the previous month, trailing the performance of the Basic Materials sector with its loss of 7.91%, and the S&P 500's loss of 2.86%.

Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Freeport-McMoRan in its upcoming release. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $0.49, signifying a 104.17% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $5.61 billion, down 2% from the prior-year quarter.

Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $2.55 per share and revenue of $27.66 billion, indicating changes of +44.07% and +6.73%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Freeport-McMoRan should also be noted by investors. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the business operations and its ability to generate profits.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system, spanning from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), boasts an impressive track record of outperformance, audited externally, with #1 ranked stocks yielding an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 2.43% higher. Freeport-McMoRan is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

With respect to valuation, Freeport-McMoRan is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 22.13. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 24.88, so one might conclude that Freeport-McMoRan is trading at a discount comparatively.

Investors should also note that FCX has a PEG ratio of 0.66 right now. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Mining - Non Ferrous industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.76 as trading concluded yesterday.

The Mining - Non Ferrous industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 91, putting it in the top 38% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming trading sessions.

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Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX): Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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