Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) closed at $54.22 in the latest trading session, marking a -2.31% move from the prior day. The stock's performance was behind the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.01%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.55%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.44%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the mining company had gained 19.48% outpaced the Basic Materials sector's gain of 5.26% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.86%.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Freeport-McMoRan in its upcoming release. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $0.22, reflecting a 29.03% decrease from the same quarter last year. Alongside, our most recent consensus estimate is anticipating revenue of $4.9 billion, indicating a 14.28% downward movement from the same quarter last year.
For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $1.5 per share and a revenue of $25.09 billion, signifying shifts of +1.35% and 0%, respectively, from the last year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Freeport-McMoRan. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the business health and profitability.
Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. 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, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 7.23% upward. Freeport-McMoRan is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Looking at its valuation, Freeport-McMoRan is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 27.39. This denotes a premium relative to the industry average Forward P/E of 26.48.
One should further note that FCX currently holds a PEG ratio of 0.92. The PEG ratio bears resemblance to the frequently used P/E ratio, but this parameter also includes the company's expected earnings growth trajectory. The average PEG ratio for the Mining - Non Ferrous industry stood at 0.92 at the close of the market yesterday.
The Mining - Non Ferrous industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 18, putting it in the top 8% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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