Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) closed at $49.19 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.49% move from the prior day. This move was narrower than the S&P 500’s daily loss of 1.21%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.33%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.19%.
Heading into today, shares of the mining company had gained 6.48% over the past month, lagging the Basic Materials sector’s gain of 7.06% and outpacing the S&P 500’s gain of 5.85% in that time.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Freeport-McMoRan as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be April 21, 2022. In that report, analysts expect Freeport-McMoRan to post earnings of $0.87 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 70.59%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $6.25 billion, up 28.95% from the prior-year quarter.
For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $3.86 per share and revenue of $26.4 billion, which would represent changes of +23.32% and +15.58%, respectively, from the prior year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Freeport-McMoRan should also be noted by investors. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company’s business outlook.
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, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.91% higher. Freeport-McMoRan is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Investors should also note Freeport-McMoRan’s current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 12.79. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 9.59, so we one might conclude that Freeport-McMoRan is trading at a premium comparatively.
Investors should also note that FCX has a PEG ratio of 0.44 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. Mining – Non Ferrous stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 0.44 based on yesterday’s closing prices.
The Mining – Non Ferrous industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 156, which puts it in the bottom 39% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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