Freeport-McMoRan Inc. FCX reported net income (attributable to common stock) of $53 million or 3 cents per share in second-quarter 2020 against a net loss of $72 million or 5 cents in the year-ago quarter.
Barring one-time items, adjusted earnings per share came in at 3 cents, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 3 cents.
Revenues fell 13.9% year over year to $3,054 million. The figure missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3,204 million.
FreeportMcMoRan Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
FreeportMcMoRan Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | FreeportMcMoRan Inc. Quote
Operational Update
Copper production fell 1.2% year over year to 767 million pounds in the second quarter.
Consolidated sales from mines fell 5.9% year over year to 759 million pounds of copper. The company produced 191,000 ounces of gold and 19 million pounds of molybdenum during the quarter.
Consolidated average unit net cash costs per pound of copper were $1.47, down 23.4% year over year.
Average realized price for copper was $2.55 per pound, down 7.3% year over year. Average realized price per ounce for gold increased 29.5% year over year to $1,749. Average realized price per pound for molybdenum was $10.53, down 19.9% year over year.
Financial Position
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the second quarter were $1,465 million, down 44.1% year over year. The company’s long-term debt was $9,824 million.
Cash flows provided by operations were $453 million for the six months ended Jun 30, down 58.4% year over year.
Guidance
For 2020, Freeport now anticipates consolidated sales volumes to be 3.15 billion pounds of copper compared with 3.1 billion pounds expected earlier.
The company expects gold sales volumes of 800,000 ounces in 2020, up from 780,000 ounces projected earlier. The company now expects sales of 77 million pounds of molybdenum compared with from 80 million pounds expected earlier.
For the third quarter, Freeport expects sales volumes to be 790 million pounds of copper, 220,000 ounces of gold and 18 million pounds of molybdenum.
Price Performance
Freeport’s shares have gained 14.1% in the past year compared with the industry’s 8.5% rise.
Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks
Freeport currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Some other top-ranked stocks in the basic materials space include Equinox Gold Corp. EQX, Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited HMY and Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. NAK, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.
Equinox Gold has an expected earnings growth rate of 65.5% for 2020. The company’s shares have surged 96.8% in the past year.
Harmony Gold has an expected earnings growth rate of 264.3% for fiscal 2020. Its shares have returned 154.4% in the past year.
Northern Dynasty has an expected earnings growth rate of 28.6% for 2020. The company’s shares have skyrocketed 285.5% in the past year.
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