Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc
🔔 Watch stock
Assessment
Our Rating
A journalistic assessment by our editorial team at the time of the deep dive — it rates the company, not the entry point. Not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell.
The business works in principle, but one material question is open. As long as it stays open, our findings do not carry a quality verdict.
Why this colour
Whoever buys today pays about 30 times earnings for the assumption that Grasberg comes back on plan and the copper price stays high — and gets in return the largest U.S. copper producer with world-class reserves in a phase of structural copper scarcity. Whoever waits can check four measuring points in the coming quarterly reports (10-Q): the volumes from Indonesia (does the ramp-up hold?), the progress on the ore loading systems (does the 60 percent cap fall before mid-2027?), the costs per pound, and the IUPK extension application and its terms. The decision is yours.
What the thesis turns on
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
By its SEC filings, Freeport-McMoRan is a commodity company in top bookkeeping form: record copper and gold prices, $25.9 billion of 2025 revenue, a balance sheet close to a fortress and a rule-based payout framework. But no quality filter measures the three biggest risks: the best mine produces at reduced rates after a disaster that killed seven workers — the timetable slid within three months from "85 percent by late 2026" to "60 percent of capacity until mid-2027" —, the latest profit jump contains a one-time insurance payment, and the mine belongs to the company only to 48.76 percent, from 2042 probably only to about 37. Not investment advice.
Prices & demand
Realized 2025 prices: $4.75 per pound of copper and $3,423 per ounce of gold; copper all-time highs on LME and COMEX in January 2026 ($6.28/$6.18). Demand carried by electrification, data centers and AI build-out (10-K FY 2025, 10-Q as of March 31, 2026).
Balance sheet & capital discipline
Net debt of $2.4 billion (March 31, 2026, excluding separately financed smelter debt), target corridor $3–4 billion, Piotroski 8 of 9 and Altman-Z above 5 (Q1 2026); $0.60 dividend plus buybacks inside a rule-based payout framework (10-K, 10-Q).
Grasberg concentration risk
98 percent of gold and about 30 percent of copper from one district that has run at reduced rates since the mud rush of September 8, 2025 (seven fatalities, force majeure): Blocks 2 and 3 at about 60 percent of capacity, bottlenecks "by mid-2027"; 2026 guidance cut (10-K; 10-Q as of March 31, 2026).
Ownership & license Indonesia
Only 48.76 percent of PTFI (Indonesia's state: 51.24 percent), mining rights through 2031/2041, reserves calculated only through 2041; extension per the 10-K against a reduction to about 37 percent from 2042; plus Indonesian tax assessments under objection (10-Q).
Earnings quality & valuation
Q1 2026 profit of $881 million includes a $0.7 billion insurance settlement (net special items +$51 million); copper volumes −25 percent, gold −66 percent. A P/E around 29 to 33 (buyback price Q1 2026 and fundamental data July 18, 2026) largely prices in the comeback.
Worth Noting
FCX reached the research list via rank 5 in the in-house Terry Smith quality scanner (U.S. selection, as of July 18, 2026); additional hits in the Peter Lynch PEG, Altman-Z and Levermann filters. A quality scanner measures the books, not mine physics, ownership structures or resource politics — it never replaces the cross-check in the SEC filings.
Valuation figures deliberately anchored evergreen: the price anchor is the average buyback price FCX itself reported in the 10-Q ($54.25 in Q1 2026); P/E and P/S computed from it with TTM figures as of March 31, 2026, supplemented by fundamental data as of July 18, 2026. Analyses are evergreen, daily prices are not a buy argument.
Identity verified via EDGAR submissions (CIK 0000831259, Delaware, NYSE: FCX, domestic filer 10-K/10-Q, no Form 15, no FPI). Current name "Freeport-McMoRan Inc."; the former name "Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc." applied only until July 2, 2014. Fiscal year ends December 31.
Stock Watch
This analysis is as of August 26, 2026. Stock Watch will tell you what's changed at FCX since then.
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Price history
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
52-week range: 35.30 $ to 79.90 $ · Last price: 70.90 $ (As of: September 17, 2026)
Key figures
Key figures at a glance
Every figure we hold for this stock, grouped by topic. The question mark next to a label explains what the number means.
Basics
Performance
Technical Indicators
Calculated from the price history · as of 09/18/2026
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Dividend
Quality & Screener
Highlighted are things our editorial team noticed: green = stands out as strong, red = deserves a closer look. No single metric is a verdict on its own — always read it in context.
Comparison
Industry comparison
The stock alongside the largest companies in the same group. The median row is the middle value of the companies shown above — not of the whole industry.
Sector comparison: Basic Materials
| Company | Market cap ($B) | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross Margin % | EBIT Margin % | Sales Growth (Year) % | Perf. 1Y % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc FCX | 102.2 | 37.9 | 11.7 | 38.3 | 31.1 | 1.1 | 58.8 |
| Linde plc LIN | 212.0 | 30.6 | 17.5 | 48.4 | 28.5 | 3.0 | -3.2 |
| Southern Copper Corporation SCCO | 174.0 | 32.1 | 16.4 | 64.5 | 58.3 | 17.4 | 92.5 |
| Newmont Goldcorp Corp NEM | 132.8 | 16.0 | 7.9 | 68.0 | 61.4 | 19.1 | 59.6 |
| Sherwin-Williams Co SHW | 77.7 | 31.5 | 19.5 | 49.0 | 14.2 | 2.1 | -7.5 |
| Ecolab Inc ECL | 76.7 | 37.6 | 21.6 | 44.2 | 16.9 | 2.2 | 3.5 |
| Barrick Mining Corporation B | 72.0 | 12.3 | 5.0 | 56.3 | 56.3 | 31.2 | 50.6 |
| Air Products and Chemicals Inc APD | 64.1 | 30.2 | 48.8 | 32.1 | 23.6 | -0.5 | 1.1 |
| Nucor Corp NUE | 61.9 | 25.5 | 11.0 | 15.6 | 11.8 | 5.7 | 88.2 |
| Median of companies shown | 77.7 | 30.6 | 16.4 | 48.4 | 28.5 | 3.0 | 50.6 |
Based on the most recently reported figures. Only stocks from the same trading venue are lined up, so the market caps are counted in one currency. Compare in a chart →
Fiscal years
Annual Figures
Fiscal years from the audited annual reports, oldest first. EBIT is the operating profit before interest and taxes; total assets are everything the company owns.
Revenue, operating income and net income per fiscal year $M
Revenue Operating income Net income
| Fiscal Year | Revenue ($M) | EBIT ($M) | Net Income ($M) | EPS ($) | Operating Cash Flow ($M) | Equity ($M) | Total Assets ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 14,598 | 740 | -3,959 | -3.00 | 3,729 | 6,051 | 37,317 |
| 2017 | 15,858 | 3,381 | 1,756 | 1.21 | 4,682 | 7,977 | 37,302 |
| 2018 | 18,967 | 5,209 | 2,613 | 1.79 | 3,863 | 9,603 | 42,688 |
| 2019 | 14,356 | 669 | -245 | -0.17 | 1,482 | 9,298 | 40,809 |
| 2020 | 13,872 | 1,893 | 596 | 0.41 | 3,017 | 10,174 | 42,144 |
| 2021 | 22,357 | 7,813 | 4,299 | 2.90 | 7,715 | 13,980 | 48,022 |
| 2022 | 23,334 | 7,552 | 3,461 | 2.39 | 5,139 | 15,555 | 51,093 |
| 2023 | 22,707 | 6,083 | 1,842 | 1.28 | 5,279 | 16,693 | 52,506 |
| 2024 | 25,455 | 6,864 | 1,883 | 1.30 | 7,160 | 17,581 | 54,848 |
| 2025 | 25,741 | 6,290 | 2,204 | 1.53 | 5,610 | 18,899 | 58,167 |
Quarters
Quarterly Figures
Each bar is one quarter, the last one is the most recent. Use the switch to step through the individual figures.
Revenue & Profit
Cash Flow
Balance Sheet
Margins
Per Share
Click the chart or tab into it, then use ← and → to step through the periods.
None of the selected stocks reports this metric. Pick another metric or switch between annual and quarterly.
· Total · per year
These companies report in different currencies — switch on “Indexed” or pick a margin for a fair comparison.
The figures could not be loaded right now.
Source: fundamental data
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024: Q4 | 0.19 | -29.20 | 5,720 | -3.10 | 4.70 | 1,436 | 197 |
| 2025: Q1 | 0.24 | -26.10 | 5,728 | -9.40 | 13.80 | 1,058 | -114 |
| 2025: Q2 | 0.53 | 26.60 | 7,582 | 19.00 | 10.20 | 2,195 | 3,367 |
| 2025: Q3 | 0.47 | 29.70 | 6,972 | 4.40 | 9.70 | 1,664 | 608 |
| 2025: Q4 | 0.28 | 48.40 | 5,633 | -1.50 | 7.20 | 693 | 1,749 |
| 2026: Q1 | 0.61 | 154.60 | 6,234 | 8.80 | 14.10 | 1,495 | 522 |
| 2026: Q2 | 0.68 | 28.30 | 7,029 | -7.30 | 14.00 | 2,048 | 2,048 |
What Do These Terms Mean?
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Screening
Appears in These Scanners
This stock currently matches 6 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
Quality & Balance Sheet
Aktien.Guide
Dividends
Research
Value & GARP
Only genuine hits from verified scanners count; pure ranking metrics (P/E, P/S, and similar, which just sort the whole universe) don't count as a hit. View all scanners
Outlook
Analysts & Price Target
Combined picture of the price targets and recommendations of every analyst covering the stock. Price targets are expectations for the next 12 months, not promises — and they often follow the price rather than predict it.
Distribution of Recommendations
Estimates by Fiscal Year
| Fiscal Year | EPS Estimate ($) | EPS Range ($) | Revenue Estimate ($M) | Expected Growth | Analysts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/31/2026 | 3.02 | 2.74 – 3.41 | 29,537 | 70.7% | 16 |
| 12/31/2027 | 4.14 | 2.62 – 5.69 | 35,513 | 36.9% | 17 |
Average of the analyst estimates for the coming fiscal years. The range shows how far the most optimistic and the most cautious estimate sit apart — the wider it is, the less certain the expectation.
Valuation
What is priced in?
Instead of guessing what the stock is worth, we turn the question around: what free cash flow growth has to happen for today’s market value to add up? The assumptions behind it can be moved.
Today’s market value implies roughly 5.7% growth in free cash flow per year over ten years (assumptions: discount rate 10.0%, terminal growth 2.5%).
| Free cash flow (last twelve months) | $5.92B |
|---|---|
| Market cap | $102.17B |
| Free cash flow in year ten | $10.31B |
| Terminal value as a share of market value | 53.2% |
For comparison: over the past five years free cash flow grew by 1.1% per year.
It shows which assumption is built into today’s price, not whether that assumption will hold. Every assumption can be changed with the sliders; the figures move with them.
A simplified model calculation — not a forecast and not a recommendation.
AI classification
AI Rating
Freeport-McMoRan verkauft Kupfer, Gold und Molybdän — keine KI-Produkte als Umsatzquelle. Das 10-K für GJ 2025 belegt aber ausdrücklich operativen KI-Einsatz: Geschäfts- und Betriebsprozesse nutzen „traditional and emerging technology systems, including AI“ für Tagesbetrieb, Sicherheit, Effizienz und Kostensenkung; dazu Datenanalytik/neue Technologien in den Laugungsprozessen (Leaching) und Automatisierung. KI taucht zusätzlich als Nachfragetreiber für Kupfer auf (Rechenzentren/KI-Wachstum) und in Risk Factors nur als Angreifer-Werkzeug bei Cyberrisiken — beides keine Umsatzquelle und keine konkrete Bedrohung des Geschäftsmodells. Vorrang-Regel geprüft: verkauft nein, bedroht nein → nutzt.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
„Many of our business and operational processes utilize traditional and emerging technology systems, including AI, to conduct day-to-day operations, improve safety and efficiency, and lower costs."
Viele unserer Geschäfts- und Betriebsprozesse nutzen traditionelle und neue Technologiesysteme, einschließlich KI, um das Tagesgeschäft zu führen, Sicherheit und Effizienz zu verbessern und Kosten zu senken.
10-K · 2026-02-13 · View SEC filing
„In addition to our innovative leaching initiatives, we are pursuing opportunities to leverage new technologies and analytic tools in automation and operating practices with a goal of improving operating efficiencies and reducing costs and capital intensity of our current operations and future development projects."
Zusätzlich zu unseren innovativen Laugungs-Initiativen verfolgen wir Möglichkeiten, neue Technologien und Analysewerkzeuge in Automatisierung und Betriebsabläufen einzusetzen — mit dem Ziel, die betriebliche Effizienz zu verbessern und Kosten sowie Kapitalintensität unserer laufenden Betriebe und künftigen Entwicklungsprojekte zu senken.
10-K · 2026-02-13 · View SEC filing
„We believe fundamentals for copper are favorable with growing demand supported by copper's critical role in electrification initiatives, continued urbanization in developing countries, data centers and artificial intelligence (AI) growth, increased defense spending and growing connectivity globally."
Wir halten die Fundamentaldaten für Kupfer für günstig: wachsende Nachfrage, getragen von Kupfers zentraler Rolle bei Elektrifizierungs-Initiativen, fortgesetzter Urbanisierung in Entwicklungsländern, dem Wachstum von Rechenzentren und Künstlicher Intelligenz (KI), steigenden Verteidigungsausgaben und weltweit zunehmender Vernetzung.
10-K · 2026-02-13 · View SEC filing
Filings Reviewed: 10-Q 2026-05-08 · 10-Q 2025-11-06 · 10-Q 2025-08-08 · 10-Q 2025-05-08 · 10-K 2026-02-13 · 10-K 2025-02-14
Rated on July 18, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built
Growth
Growth Score
Ten checks against the annual reports — each one passed counts a point.
- Revenue grows by more than 15% a year over three years 3.3%
- More than 10% revenue growth is expected for the coming year 20.3%
- Share count grows by less than 3% a year -0.2%
- Revenue growth plus cash-flow margin add up to at least 40 ("Rule of 40") 5.5%
- Gross margin at 40% or higher and without meaningful erosion 27.0%
- Goodwill from acquisitions does not grow faster than revenue 0.0%
- Net debt below twice EBITDA 0.9 x EBITDA
- Operating cash flow covers the profits of the last three years 12,120 m
- Return on capital at 15% or higher, or up versus two years ago 12.1%
- Insiders hold at least 10% or are net buyers 0.7%
A criterion without figures counts neither as passed nor as failed; a score is only produced from 7 judgeable criteria upwards. Source: fundamental data. All ten criteria in detail
Quality check
AAQS
7/10The AAQS (AlleAktien Quality Score) checks 10 quality criteria on growth, profitability, and balance-sheet strength — per the methodology developed and published by AlleAktien, calculated by us from our own fundamental data. A stock counts as a quality stock from 9 out of 10 points. Where a company has a shorter listing history, we calculate over the fiscal years available (at least five).
- Sales growth 10Y > 5% 6.5%
- Exp. sales growth 3Y > 5% 17.5%
- EBIT growth 10Y > 5% 26.8%
- Exp. EBIT growth 3Y > 5% 64.5%
- Net debt < 4x EBIT 1.2x
- EBIT positive, 10Y straight 10
- Max. EBIT decline < 50% 87.2%
- Return on equity > 15% 11.9%
- ROCE > 15% 12.1%
- Expected return > 10% 66.3%
View stocks with the full AAQS score · Read the methodology at AlleAktien
Source: fundamental data
Insiders
Insider Transactions
Reportable transactions by officers and major shareholders from SEC Form 4 filings. "Other" includes things like stock grants and option exercises without a buy/sell character.
| Date | Person | Role | Type | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 27, 2026 | Kennard Lydia H | Director | Sell | 3,798 | 79.11 | 300,471 |
| Aug 25, 2026 | Currault Douglas N. II | EVP & General Counsel | Sell | 80,000 | 78.56 | 6,284,464 |
| Aug 25, 2026 | Currault Douglas N. II | EVP & General Counsel | Other | 15,000 | 28.14 | 422,100 |
| Aug 25, 2026 | Currault Douglas N. II | EVP & General Counsel | Other | 65,000 | 12.04 | 782,600 |
| Aug 5, 2026 | Mikes Ellie L. | Chief Accounting Officer | Sell | 4,773 | 70.00 | 334,110 |
| Aug 5, 2026 | Higgins Stephen T. | EVP & CAO | Sell | 14,277 | 69.50 | 992,252 |
| Jul 30, 2026 | Higgins Stephen T. | EVP & CAO | Sell | 7,550 | 63.00 | 475,650 |
The company
About the Company
Freeport-McMoRan Inc. betreibt den Abbau von Mineralvorkommen in Nordamerika, Südamerika und Indonesien.
- Employees
- 29,000
- Headquarters
- Phoenix, AZ
- Address
- 4340 E. Cotton Center Blvd., 85040-8852 Phoenix, United States
- Phone
- 602 366 8100
- Website
- fcx.com
- IPO Date
- 07/10/1995
- ISIN
- US35671D8570
- Stock Split
- 2:1 on 02/02/2011
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Kathleen Lynne Quirk | CEO, President & Director | 1964 |
| Maree E. Robertson | Executive VP & CFO | 1976 |
| Stephen T. Higgins | Executive VP & Chief Administrative Officer | 1958 |
| Douglas N. Currault II | Executive VP & General Counsel | 1965 |
| Ellie L. Mikes | VP & Chief Accounting Officer | 1978 |
| Bertrand L. Odinet II | Senior VP, Chief Information Officer & Chief Innovation Officer | – |
| David Joint | Vice President of Investor Relations | – |
| Pamela Q. Masson | Senior VP & Chief Human Resources Officer, | – |
| W. Russell King | Senior Vice President of International Relations & Federal Government Affairs | 1950 |
| A. Cory Stevens | Senior Vice President and President & COO of Freeport McMoRan Mining Services | – |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Filings
Company Filings (8-K)
An 8-K is the filing a US company must use to disclose material events immediately — takeovers, changes at the top, major contracts or payment troubles, for instance. The links open the original document at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Data as of: September 17, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.