Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

Read MoreHide Full Article

Freeport-McMoRan (FCX - Free Report) closed at $42.82 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.42% move from the prior day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.76%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 1.05%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.98%.

Coming into today, shares of the mining company had lost 4.04% in the past month. In that same time, the Basic Materials sector lost 4.58%, while the S&P 500 lost 3.91%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Freeport-McMoRan as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.44, down 58.88% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $5.36 billion, down 18.88% from the prior-year quarter.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $1.98 per share and revenue of $23.11 billion. These totals would mark changes of -18.85% and +1.44%, respectively, from last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Freeport-McMoRan should also be noted by investors. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for 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 2.7% higher. Freeport-McMoRan is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

In terms of valuation, Freeport-McMoRan is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 21.73. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 17.96, so we one might conclude that Freeport-McMoRan is trading at a premium comparatively.

The Mining - Non Ferrous industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 188, which puts it in the bottom 26% 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.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX) - free report >>

Published in