Freeport-McMoRan Inc.
FCX
recorded net income (attributable to common stock) of $1.5 billion or $1.04 per share in first-quarter 2022, up from $718 million or 48 cents in the year-ago quarter.
Barring one-time items, adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.07, topping the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 88 cents.
Revenues rose roughly 36.1% year over year to $6,603 million. The figure surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6,328.7 million.
The mining giant benefited from higher realized prices and lower costs in the quarter.
FreeportMcMoRan Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
FreeportMcMoRan Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart
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FreeportMcMoRan Inc. Quote
Operational Update
Copper production rose 10.9% year over year to 1,009 million pounds in the first quarter.
Consolidated sales from mines rose 24.1% year over year to 1,024 million pounds of copper. The company sold 409,000 ounces of gold and 19 million pounds of molybdenum during the quarter.
Consolidated average unit net cash costs per pound of copper were $1.33, down about 4.3% year over year. The downside was caused by higher sales volume and by-product credits.
The average realized price for copper was $4.66 per pound, up roughly 18.3% year over year. The average realized price per ounce for gold increased around 12.1% year over year to $1,920. The average realized price per pound for molybdenum was $19.3, up around 66.1% year over year.
Financial Position
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the first quarter were $8,338 million, up 82.1% year over year. The company’s long-term debt was $8,256 million, down around 9.8% year over year.
Cash flows provided by operations were $1,691 million for the first quarter of 2022.
Guidance
For 2022, Freeport anticipates consolidated sales volumes to be roughly 4.25 billion pounds of copper.
The company also expects gold sales volumes of 1.6 million ounces for 2022. It also expects sales of 80 million pounds of molybdenum for the year.
For the second quarter of 2022, Freeport expects sales volumes to be 1 billion pounds of copper, 405,000 ounces of gold and 21 million pounds of molybdenum.
Price Performance
Freeport’s shares have rallied 43.6% in the past year compared with a 19.1% rise of the
industry
.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
Freeport currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks in the basic materials space are
The Mosaic Company
MOS
,
AdvanSix Inc.
ASIX
and
Allegheny Technologies Incorporated
ATI
.
Mosaic has a projected earnings growth rate of 143.5% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MOS’ current-year earnings has been revised 39.7% upward in the past 60 days.
Mosaic’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the last four quarters while missing once. It delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 3.7%, on average. MOS has rallied around 129.2% in a year and currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see
the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here
.
AdvanSix has a projected earnings growth rate of 54.7% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ASIX’s current-year earnings has been revised 43.6% upward in the past 60 days.
AdvanSix’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters, the average being 23.6%. ASIX has surged 93.3% in a year. The company sports a Zacks Rank #1.
Allegheny, currently sporting a Zacks Rank #1, has an expected earnings growth rate of 684.6% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ATI’s earnings for the current year has been revised 20% upward in the past 60 days.
Allegheny’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, the average being 127.2%. ATI has rallied around 33.6% over a year.
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