Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) ended the recent trading session at $40.24, demonstrating a +0.22% swing from the preceding day's closing price. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a gain of 0.58% for the day. Elsewhere, the Dow saw an upswing of 0.51%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 0.81%.
Shares of the mining company have appreciated by 7.5% over the course of the past month, outperforming the Basic Materials sector's gain of 3.65% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.61%.
The upcoming earnings release of Freeport-McMoRan will be of great interest to investors. On that day, Freeport-McMoRan is projected to report earnings of $0.47 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 2.17%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $6.93 billion, up 4.69% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $1.67 per share and a revenue of $27.03 billion, demonstrating changes of +12.84% and +6.2%, respectively, from the preceding year.
It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for Freeport-McMoRan. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the company's business operations and its ability to generate profits.
Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. 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 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. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 2.63% higher. At present, Freeport-McMoRan boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Looking at its valuation, Freeport-McMoRan is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 24.11. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 22.61, which means Freeport-McMoRan is trading at a premium to the group.
It's also important to note that FCX currently trades at a PEG ratio of 0.79. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. The average PEG ratio for the Mining - Non Ferrous industry stood at 0.85 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 59, putting it in the top 24% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered 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.
Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions.
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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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