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Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Freeport-McMoRan (FCX - Free Report) closed at $45.63, marking a +2.03% move from the previous day. The stock's change was more than the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.47%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a gain of 0.11%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 0.94%.

Coming into today, shares of the mining company had gained 5.57% in the past month. In that same time, the Basic Materials sector gained 4.93%, while the S&P 500 gained 2.32%.

The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Freeport-McMoRan in its forthcoming earnings report. On that day, Freeport-McMoRan is projected to report earnings of $0.5 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 31.58%. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $6.91 billion, reflecting a 1.75% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.

In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $1.75 per share and a revenue of $27.39 billion, indicating changes of +18.24% and +7.61%, respectively, from the former year.

Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Freeport-McMoRan. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. Therefore, positive revisions in estimates convey analysts' confidence in the business performance and profit potential.

Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. 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, 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 past month, there's been a 0.81% rise in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. 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 25.54. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 24.2, which means Freeport-McMoRan is trading at a premium to the group.

Meanwhile, FCX's PEG ratio is currently 0.85. 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 currently had an average PEG ratio of 0.81 as of yesterday's close.

The Mining - Non Ferrous industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 179, positioning it in the bottom 28% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks 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 use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming trading sessions.


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