Latest news with #Freeport-McMoRanInc
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Is Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX) Among the Top Commodity Producers With the Highest Upside Potential?
We recently compiled a list of the Top 15 Commodity Producers With the Highest Upside Potential. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) stands against the other Commodity Producer stocks. Commodity producer stocks are shares of publicly listed firms that produce, explore, or distribute commodities. These businesses are frequently interested in metals, mining, agriculture, and energy. Commodity producer stocks are chosen by investors to obtain exposure to both the equity and commodities markets, potentially profiting from heightened interest in either. The commodity market is booming. According to a research report, the size of the global commodity services market was projected at $3.56 billion in 2024 and is anticipated to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.65% from 2025 to 2034, from $3.87 billion in 2025 to roughly $8.16 billion by 2034. Regionally, the commodity services industry is dominated by North America, while Asia Pacific is projected to grow at a quick pace. However, the World Bank's April 2025 Commodity Markets Outlook projects that global commodity prices will plummet, falling 12% in 2025 and further 5% in 2026 to their lowest level since 2020. The anticipated drop is being driven by slowing global economic growth and persistently high oil supply. This decline carries risks to economic growth in developing countries, with two-thirds likely to see setbacks, even though it may reduce short-term price pressures associated with rising trade barriers. Notwithstanding the drop, nominal prices will still be higher than they were before the pandemic. Ayhan Kose, the World Bank Group's Deputy Chief Economist and Director of the Prospects Group, stated: 'Commodity prices have whipsawed throughout the 2020s—plummeting with arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, then surging to record highs after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and then sinking again,' said Ayhan Kose, the World Bank Group's Deputy Chief Economist and Director of the Prospects Group. 'In an era of geopolitical tensions, surging demand for critical minerals, and more frequent natural disasters, that could become the new normal. Successfully navigating through repeated commodity prices swings will require developing economies to build fiscal space, strengthen their institutions, and improve investment climates to facilitate job creation.' On the other hand, Morgan Stanley, on February 21, highlighted that 2025 is anticipated to be a crucial year for commodity markets, influenced by supply fundamentals, inflation patterns, and dollar fluctuations. Inflation in the United States is still high, falling short of the Federal Reserve's 2% target in December with headline CPI readings of 2.9% and core CPI readings of 3.2%. After the U.S. presidential election, policy changes—particularly related to immigration, deficits, and tariffs—have raised inflation expectations. According to data from the University of Michigan, they rose from 2.8% to 3.3% in just one month. Commodity prices have generally been supported by these conditions. Since late September, the U.S. dollar has risen by almost 8%, in part because of growing interest rates and policy expectations. Global demand for commodities is usually pressured by a strong dollar, but if the currency stabilizes or depreciates, it may eliminate a significant obstacle. Although recent contango suggests sufficient short-term supply, a yield-adjusted perspective reveals markets in backwardation at about 4%, showing ongoing physical tightness. This suggests that inventories for essential commodities remain low, making the market more susceptible to demand shocks. Commodity performance in 2025 is supported by tight supply, high inflation, as well as potential dollar weakness. A large open-pit copper mine with heavy machinery extracting minerals from the earth. To collect data for this article, we examined companies operating in the commodity sector and then compiled a list of the stocks with the highest upside potential according to Wall Street analysts, as of May 1, 2025. To keep our list relevant, we have only included companies with a market cap of $10 billion and above. The following are the Commodity Producers with the Highest Upside Potential. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter's strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points. (see more details here). Analysts' Upside Potential as of May 01: 33.21% Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) has stakes in ten copper mines, with the largest holdings being 49% of the Indonesian copper and gold operations at Grasberg, 55% of the Cerro Verde mine in Peru, and 72% of Morenci in Arizona. By volume, it was one of the largest copper miners in the world in 2024, selling around 1.2 million metric tons of copper (its share). Furthermore, the firm sold 70 million pounds of molybdenum and roughly 900,000 ounces of gold, primarily from Grasberg. By the end of December 2024, its copper reserves spanned approximately 25 years. It is ranked eighth on our list of the Best Commodity Stocks. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) had solid operational momentum in the first quarter of 2025, surpassing sales projections for copper and forecasting average quarterly copper volumes to be roughly 20% higher for the rest of the year. In the next quarters, unit net cash costs are anticipated to decrease by an average of 30%, while gold sales are projected to be almost four times Q1 levels. A premium of roughly 13% over LME prices has been observed in the U.S. copper market, which reflects tariff expectations and generates an estimated $800 million in yearly revenue for its U.S. copper sales. Smelter repairs are moving more quickly than expected in Indonesia, where the recently opened Precious Metals refinery represents a significant turning point, and solid output is expected from the Grasberg mine. The company announced that it has successfully converted 12 out of 33 trucks at its Baghdad plant to autonomous haulage; a full fleet conversion is anticipated soon to result in considerable efficiency gains. Furthermore, Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) is steadily advancing its low-cost leach innovation projects in the United States, with plans to increase production to 800 million pounds of copper annually from its current goal of 300 million pounds by the end of 2025. Overall, FCX ranks 8th on our list of the Top Commodity Producers With the Highest Upside Potential. While we acknowledge the potential of FCX as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than FCX but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this . READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. 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Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX): Jim Cramer Still Likes It — 'Buy Some Here, But Maybe Hedge with Gold'
We recently published a list of . In this article, we are going to take a look at where Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) stands against other stocks that Jim Cramer recently discussed. During the most recent episode of Mad Money, Jim Cramer revisited the recent turbulence in artificial intelligence stocks, three months after the emergence of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI firm that initially rattled markets. He noted that despite the broad pullback in the sector, many of the fears triggered by DeepSeek's debut have not materialized, which has led to a reconsideration of the panic that followed. 'Three months ago, January 23rd is a day that will live in artificial intelligence infamy. That's when we learned that a Chinese firm called DeepSeek had figured out a way to train high quality generative AI models using far less hardware. They claim their hardware costs were around $6 million versus $80 to $100 million for their enormous American competitors.' READ ALSO: and . The announcement sent shockwaves through the market. Cramer recalled how NVIDIA saw its stock fall sharply over just two trading sessions. The market reaction spread quickly beyond and hit other companies tied to data center infrastructure, which eventually pulled down the broader Nasdaq. However, Cramer noted that the company then revealed plans to build $500 billion worth of AI infrastructure in the United States over the next four years. Cramer noted that initially, it seemed to signal a renewed sense of stability. But soon after, the administration imposed a ban on selling AI chips to China, which forced the GPU kingpin to write down $5.5 billion tied to that entire initiative. Even so, Cramer emphasized that the company's core business remained strong. 'We understand that they're basically sold out for the year, even as they can only sell their best stuff in the United States and the 18 friendly countries.' Cramer attributed the export restrictions to a policy from former President Biden, one that President Trump has not reversed. Despite the geopolitical constraints, Cramer stressed that demand for the company's technology is still overwhelming. He argued that the stock never should have experienced such a steep drop in the first place. He added: 'Even with the trade war, the AI infrastructure theme seems totally back on track. In fact, it never left the track to begin with.' For this article, we compiled a list of 12 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money on April 30, 2024. We then calculated their performance from April 30th, 2024, market close to April 29th, 2025, market close. We have also included the hedge fund sentiment for the stocks, which we sourced from Insider Monkey's Q4 2024 database of over 900 hedge funds. The stocks are listed in the order that Cramer mentioned them. Please note that this article mentions Jim Cramer's previous opinions and may not account for any changes to his opinions regarding the stocks that are mentioned. It is primarily an examination of how his previously provided opinions have panned out. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter's strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here). A large open-pit copper mine with heavy machinery extracting minerals from the a caller brought up Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX), the major copper and gold miner, Cramer expressed caution due to the stock's rapid price surge at the time. Here's what he said: 'I wanted to come in first. It's been straight up. I do not like parabolic moves, and it just had one.' Cramer's call was spot on, with the stock having dropped 29.08% since then. When asked about whether Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FXC) is worth holding recently Cramer replied with: 'Yeah, I want you to hold it. I mean, it was really a shame what happened to FCX. FCX has been going up because we needed it for data centers and the Chinese were ordering some. Suddenly we've decided the Chinese aren't going to order any and the stock has given up so much of its gain… I think that this is a very good level to buy some. But if you want to really hedge it, why not buy Barrick? Because Barrick, symbol GOLD, has gold and copper. That might be the best way to go.' Overall, FCX ranks 5th on our list of stocks that Jim Cramer recently discussed. While we acknowledge the potential of FCX as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than FCX but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock. READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX): Among the Best Materials Stocks to Buy According to Hedge Funds
We recently compiled a list of the . In this article, we are going to take a look at where Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) stands against the other material stocks. Materials stocks are those companies that produce chemicals, construction materials, and paper products. Businesses involved in the exploration and processing of commodities are also included in this sector. Materials demand is cyclical, rendering sector players extremely vulnerable to economic fluctuations. The demand for basic materials tends to drop when economic conditions deteriorate, which lowers prices and impacts the profitability of material producers. However, the materials sector can be impacted by a variety of factors, including the economic cycle. Supply chain challenges, legislation, and inflation are just a few of the many factors that could impact demand, prices, and industry profitability in the materials industry. After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, a new challenge arose in the industry. The region provides essential metals for steel production and exports minerals for fertilizer, such as potash; therefore, the war caused disruptions in the worldwide supply chain for resources. Most basic materials' costs increased due to supply constraints, which had a significant impact on both the industry and the overall economy. Looking forward, a cautiously positive view for the materials sector in 2025 has been strengthened by long-term structural demand and improved macroeconomic conditions. Persistent economic concerns in the United States and a noticeable slowdown in China, two important markets for industrial materials, burdened the sector in 2024. However, according to Fidelity, the situation seems more favorable for growth in 2025 as China implements economic stimulus measures and central banks in major economies currently lean toward monetary easing. Some subsectors stand to benefit from both a short-term cyclical recovery and advantageous long-term supply-demand imbalances, especially those related to copper and other crucial inputs for infrastructure and electrification. Furthermore, the sector's rate-sensitive industries, such as chemicals, may gain from lower interest rates, while more robust, high-quality firms may provide defensive strength. The sector is positioned for a potentially better performance in 2025 due to a combination of financial assistance, a possible recovery in Chinese demand, and strategic exposure to growth-linked materials. Currently, according to a strategist for equity derivatives at Barclays, Stefano Pascale, options traders are undervaluing the risks associated with materials stocks because the sector's predicted volatility is close to historic lows, making downside protection cheap. Steel and paper companies are among the materials stocks that are susceptible to tariffs because of their dependence on international supply chains, and additional tariffs are anticipated to be announced soon by President Trump. Despite this, Pascale commented: "The volatility market is giving you an exceptionally good opportunity here of cheap materials puts. Even if you didn't have a trade war, this would be, historically speaking, a very attractive trade." Materials underperformed in 2018 due to Trump's tariffs, and similar drops may be seen this year, with the Dow down 7%. According to statistics provided by Bloomberg Intelligence, sell-side analysts have lowered their expectations for the material sector, anticipating earnings to climb 5.9% this year, down from an estimate of 16% in January. However, traders must consider liquidity risks, as the bid-ask spread for materials options is $0.20, as opposed to $0.04 for broader market options. We sifted through the Materials ETFs and online rankings to form an initial list of the 25 materials stocks. From the resultant dataset, we chose 11 stocks with the highest number of hedge fund investors, using Insider Monkey's database of 1009 hedge funds in Q4 2024 to gauge hedge fund sentiment for stocks. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter's strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (). A large open-pit copper mine with heavy machinery extracting minerals from the earth. Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 88 Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) is ranked second on our list of the best material stocks. It owns a stake in ten copper mines, including 49% of the Grasberg copper and gold operations in Indonesia, 55% of the Cerro Verde mine in Peru, and 72% of Morenci in Arizona. In 2024, it sold around 1.2 million metric tons of copper (its share), ranking among the biggest copper miners globally in terms of volume. Furthermore, it sold 70 million pounds of molybdenum and roughly 900,000 ounces of gold, primarily from Grasberg. The firm had around 25 years of copper reserves at the end of December 2024. In 2024, Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) improved its EBITDA by 14% to $10 billion. By increasing the leach opportunity, the company's 2025 projection aims to achieve a run rate of 300 million pounds by the end of 2025. Furthermore, the business is moving forward with several organic growth initiatives that should increase the value of its stock in the years to come. The brownfield expansions in South America and the United States are included in this. These events have resulted in a favorable forecast for the business in 2025. Morgan Stanley increased its target price for Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) from $44 to $45 per share. Global GDP continues to slow, and recession fears will continue to pose challenges for mining companies, according to the analyst, who still prefers base metal equities over iron ore names in the firm's Americas Metals and Mining coverage due to tighter supply outlooks. Overall, FCX ranks 2nd on our list of the best materials stocks to buy according to hedge funds. While we acknowledge the potential of FCX as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than FCX but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this . READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stock To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at . Sign in to access your portfolio
Business Journals
24-04-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
Freeport-McMoRan braces for potential copper tariffs, meets Q1 expectations
Story Highlights Freeport-McMoRan reports $352 million net income Company braces for potential impacts from copper tariffs Copper prices reached new U.S. high of $5.22 per pound in March A robust global copper market helped Freeport-McMoRan Inc. meet Wall Street's expectations in its first-quarter earnings report on Thursday, but the Phoenix-based mining giant is bracing for impacts from tariffs that could be on the way. Freeport-McMoRan (NTSE: FCX) reported net income of $352 million, or 24 cents per share, which matched the Zacks Consensus estimate. That per-share figure is 9.4% down down from 32 cents a year earlier and also down from 31 cents in Q4 2024, but the company's $5.728 billion in revenue for the most recent quarter beat the Zacks Consensus The news gave Freeport, which is Arizona's second-largest public company, a bump on Wall Street Thursday, with the company's share price rising $2.44, or 7%, to close at $37.63. The mining company said it is benefiting from positive market fundamentals based on increasing use of copper in the global economy as part of electrification as well as investments in infrastructure, technology, decarbonization and transportation. The company said copper prices reached a new high of $5.22 per pound on the U.S. COMEX exchange in March. Freeport acknowledged that short-term pricing is affected by wider sentiment in the market and that President Donald Trump's tariff policy has influenced that sentiment during the first quarter. While still anticipating strong growth in demand in a tight market this year, the company's executives said the future could bring headwinds in the form of tariffs. Right now, copper is exempt from Trump's most recent tariffs while the U.S. conducts a Trump-ordered investigation into the copper market in consideration of a potential tariff, the company said. Even though that investigation could last into the fall, U.S. market pricing is already reflecting expectations that tariffs will be enacted, Freeport said. Freeport CEO: Amid tariff talk, plans to diversify supply chain David Joint, Freeport's vice president of investor relations, said during his presentation the company has not taken a position on whether copper tariffs should be imposed, but it has made public comment on the potential effects of such a tariff on the economy, inflation and more. The company noted that it supplies 70% of the nation's domestically sourced refined copper. Kathleen Quirk, Freeport's president and CEO, said during the company's earnings call with investors that when Trump's tariffs first came out, the company began talking with suppliers and working to diversify its supply chain. 'The bigger impact as we're working with our suppliers is potentially the cost that they that they incur on the various components that they purchase,' Quick said. 'And as you can imagine, it gets complicated because it's just not one supply chain.' Sign up here for the Phoenix Business Journal's free newsletters, and download our free app for breaking news alerts. Freeport said it estimates that the proposed tariffs announced to date could increase the costs of goods it purchases in the U.S. by approximately 5%, 'primarily reflecting the potential pass-through of tariffs incurred by suppliers.' The Phoenix company operates mines both in the U.S. and abroad, most notably at its massive Grasberg mine in Indonesia, where a fire caused suspension of operations last year. During Q4 2024, Freeport was able to secure permission from the Indonesian government to keep exporting copper concentrate into this year until repairs and full ramp-up of the smelter is complete. The company said repairs are nearing completion, with startup activities expected in the second quarter and full ramp-up expected by year's end. Largest Arizona-based Public Companies Revenue Rank Prior Rank Company / 2023 Rank 1 1 Avnet 2 2 Freeport-McMoRan Inc. 3 3 Republic Services View this list
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX): Among Value Stocks in Ken Fisher's Portfolio
We recently published a list of . In this article, we are going to take a look at where Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) stands against other value stocks in Ken Fisher's portfolio. Trump's 'stupid' tariffs will fail; that's the sentiment echoed by billionaire investor Ken Fisher as their impact continues to be felt far and wide. Fisher, the brains behind Fisher Asset Management joins a growing list of institutional investors concerned that tariffs will lower growth and raise inflation at a time of weakening consumer sentiment. Billionaire investor Bill Ackman has already warned that the U.S. could be headed to an 'economic nuclear winter' as a result of the tariff policy rollout, costing Trump the confidence of business leaders. While major indices have pulled back significantly amid deep selloff in various sectors, Trump insists on staying in the race to remake the global trade order. Stocks are already on the brink of plunging into bearish territories amid recession concerns. The global stock market has lost trillions of dollars since Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on every nation that exports products to the US. Stock indices abroad have also felt the brunt, dropping by more than 10%, as it becomes clear an extended trade war is the biggest threat to the global economy. READ ALSO: Billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller's Top 10 Stocks Picks with Huge Upside Potential and Top 10 Stocks in Ken Griffin's Portfolio to Buy According to Analysts. Amid the growing concerns, Fisher insists the pitfalls of the ravaging trade war are passing wind that will fade and fail. 'What Trump unveiled Wednesday is stupid, wrong, arrogantly extreme, ignorant trade-wise and addressing a non-problem with misguided tools,' Fisher wrote on social media platform 'X.' 'Yet, as near as I can tell it will fade and fail and the fear is bigger than the problem, which from here is bullish.' How true that is, is still an open discussion as Trump stays put even as reciprocal tariffs come into play. China has already responded with an 84% tariff on US goods in response to the US imposing more than 100% tariffs on Chinese imports. The back-and-forth spat threatens to affect the global trade order, causing heightened jitters in the equity markets. According to Fisher, the deep selloff on fears of a full-blown trade could be outsized compared to the issues around the policy itself. Consequently, the billionaire investor expects the market to bounce back and rally once the selloff dust settles. 'The fear is bigger than the problem can be,' Fisher continued. 'Single period stock market comparisons are always iffy, but it may well be this goes something like the 1998 stock market correction leading to a 26% annual return.' Even as investors turn their attention to safe havens in the race to store wealth, value stocks remain resilient. The top value stocks in the Fisher Asset Management portfolio stand out because they are well-established companies. The fact that they are undervalued due to the ongoing market correction amid the trade war presents an exciting opportunity. Additionally, the stocks are spread across various sectors, from financials to healthcare to consumer cyclical and technology. We combed Fisher Asset Management's Q4 2024 13F filings to identify the 10 value stocks in Ken Fisher's portfolio. We chose stocks that are trading at a forward P/E of less than 20 and are part of industries including energy, financials, and healthcare, among others. Finally, we ranked the stocks in ascending order based on the value of Fisher Asset Management equity stakes in the stocks while also outlining hedge fund sentiment for each stock as of Q4 2024. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter's strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (). A large open-pit copper mine with heavy machinery extracting minerals from the earth. Fisher Asset Management Equity Stake: $2.26 Billion Forward P/E Ratio as of April 17: 18.21 Number of Hedge Holders: 88 Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) is a basic materials company that engages in the mining of mineral properties. It primarily explores and develops copper, gold, molybdenum and silver properties around the globe. It is one of the top-value stocks in Ken Fisher's portfolio, poised to capitalize on soaring prices of precious metals. On April 16, Wolfe Research upgraded Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) to an Outperform with a $39 price target. The bullish stance comes on Freeport McMoran announcing a $0.15 dividend yield to be paid on May 1. The stock yields 0.9% on dividends affirming the company's focus on returning value to shareholders. In addition, Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) expects its Q1 copper sales to align with its January forecast of 850 million pounds. Consequently, the company should benefit from soaring copper prices as demand remains high. While gold sales are expected to be about 100,000 ounces lower than the January forecast of 225,000 ounces, the company's consolidated unit cash should increase by 5% owing to high gold and copper prices. Overall, FCX ranks 6th on our list of value stocks in Ken Fisher's portfolio. While we acknowledge the potential of FCX as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than FCX but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings check out our report about this READ NEXT: and . Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at . Sign in to access your portfolio
