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

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Freeport-McMoRan (FCX - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $40.06, moving +0.6% from the previous trading session. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.08%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.68%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.61%.

Heading into today, shares of the mining company had gained 12.97% over the past month, outpacing the Basic Materials sector's gain of 2.87% and the S&P 500's gain of 6.1% in that time.

Freeport-McMoRan will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. On that day, Freeport-McMoRan is projected to report earnings of $0.42 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 27.59%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $6 billion, up 10.7% from the year-ago period.

FCX's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $1.92 per share and revenue of $23.98 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -21.31% and +5.26%, respectively.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Freeport-McMoRan. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about 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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 5.41% lower within the past month. Freeport-McMoRan is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Investors should also note Freeport-McMoRan's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 20.79. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 16.51, 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 group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 65, putting it in the top 26% 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.

To follow FCX in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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