Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) closed the most recent trading day at $15.30, moving -0.52% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500’s 1.6% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 1.34%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 2.26%.
Prior to today’s trading, shares of the mining company had gained 3.22% over the past month. This has outpaced the Basic Materials sector’s loss of 2.77% and the S&P 500’s loss of 5.3% in that time.
FCX will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. On that day, FCX is projected to report earnings of $0.16 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 1700%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $3.47 billion, up 4.76% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $0.35 per share and revenue of $13.26 billion, which would represent changes of +1650% and -8.88%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for FCX. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company’s business outlook.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 6.75% higher. FCX is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Investors should also note FCX’s current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 44.19. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 36.75, which means FCX is trading at a premium to the group.
The Mining – Non Ferrous industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 211, putting it in the bottom 17% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. 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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