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Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) Sees a More Significant Dip Than Broader Market: Some Facts to Know

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Freeport-McMoRan (FCX - Free Report) closed the latest trading day at $52.31, indicating a -0.87% change from the previous session's end. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.6%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.86%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.08%.

The mining company's stock has climbed by 5.73% in the past month, exceeding the Basic Materials sector's gain of 0.42% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.15%.

The upcoming earnings release of Freeport-McMoRan will be of great interest to investors. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $0.45, reflecting a 28.57% increase from the same quarter last year. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $6.01 billion, indicating a 4.76% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.

For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $1.66 per share and a revenue of $24.99 billion, signifying shifts of +7.79% and +9.36%, 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. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable 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 last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.15% lower. Freeport-McMoRan is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, Freeport-McMoRan is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 31.78. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 17.23, 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 2.79. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. FCX's industry had an average PEG ratio of 0.91 as of yesterday's close.

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 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.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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