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Here's Why Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) Fell More Than Broader Market

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The latest trading session saw Freeport-McMoRan (FCX - Free Report) ending at $42.09, denoting a -1.13% adjustment from its last day's close. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.57%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.07%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.64%.

Shares of the mining company witnessed a gain of 13.19% over the previous month, beating the performance of the Basic Materials sector with its gain of 4.35% and the S&P 500's gain of 4%.

The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Freeport-McMoRan in its forthcoming earnings report. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $0.32, signifying a 38.46% drop compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $5.82 billion, up 1.16% from the prior-year quarter.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Freeport-McMoRan. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. To take advantage of this, we've established the Zacks Rank, an exclusive model that considers these estimated changes and delivers an operational rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 6.19% upward. Freeport-McMoRan currently has a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Freeport-McMoRan has a Forward P/E ratio of 25.25 right now. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 21.9, which means Freeport-McMoRan is trading at a premium to the group.

The Mining - Non Ferrous industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 225, which puts it in the bottom 11% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Remember to apply Zacks.com to follow these and more stock-moving metrics during the upcoming trading sessions.


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