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Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) Rises Higher Than Market: Key Facts

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Freeport-McMoRan (FCX - Free Report) closed the latest trading day at $40.42, indicating a +1.46% change from the previous session's end. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.08%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.92%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.41%.

Coming into today, shares of the mining company had gained 1.37% in the past month. In that same time, the Basic Materials sector lost 1.64%, while the S&P 500 lost 8.26%.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Freeport-McMoRan in its upcoming earnings disclosure. In that report, analysts expect Freeport-McMoRan to post earnings of $0.25 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 21.88%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $5.47 billion, down 13.46% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $1.67 per share and revenue of $26.13 billion. These totals would mark changes of +12.84% and +2.63%, respectively, from last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Freeport-McMoRan should also be noted by investors. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. 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 exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 1.23% higher. As of now, Freeport-McMoRan holds a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In the context of valuation, Freeport-McMoRan is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 23.9. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 18.8, so one might conclude that Freeport-McMoRan is trading at a premium comparatively.

It is also worth noting that FCX currently has a PEG ratio of 0.9. 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. The Mining - Non Ferrous industry had an average PEG ratio of 0.88 as trading concluded yesterday.

The Mining - Non Ferrous industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 195, positioning it in the bottom 23% 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.

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


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