Freeport-McMoRan Inc.


FCX

reported net income (attributable to common stock) of $329 million or 22 cents per share in third-quarter 2020 against a net loss of $207 million or 15 cents in the year-ago quarter.

Barring one-time items, adjusted earnings per share came in at 29 cents that surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 24 cents.

Revenues rose 16.4% year over year to $3,851 million. The figure also beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3,757.6 million.

Operational Update

Copper production fell 2.3% year over year to 844 million pounds in the third quarter.

Consolidated sales from mines rose 6.7% year over year to 848 million pounds of copper. The company produced 237,000 ounces of gold and 19 million pounds of molybdenum during the quarter.

Consolidated average unit net cash costs per pound of copper were $1.32, down 17% year over year.

Average realized price for copper was $3.01 per pound, up 14.9% year over year. Average realized price per ounce for gold increased 27.9% year over year to $1,902. Average realized price per pound for molybdenum was $9.23, down 28.4% year over year.

Financial Position

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the third quarter were $2,403 million, up 6.9% year over year. The company’s long-term debt was $9,983 million.

Cash flows provided by operations were $1,690 million for the nine months ended Sep 30, up 28.8% year over year.

Guidance

For 2020, Freeport now anticipates consolidated sales volumes to be 3.18 billion pounds of copper compared with 3.15 billion pounds expected earlier.

The company continues to expect gold sales volumes of 800,000 ounces for 2020, unchanged from previous forecast. It now expects sales of 80 million pounds of molybdenum compared with 77 million pounds expected earlier.

For the fourth quarter, Freeport expects sales volumes to be 840 million pounds of copper, 270,000 ounces of gold and 21 million pounds of molybdenum.

Price Performance

Freeport’s shares have gained 74.9% in the past year compared with the

industry

’s 40.4% rise.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Freeport currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the basic materials space are

Eldorado Gold Corporation


EGO

,

Agnico Eagle Mines Limited


AEM

and

Barrick Gold Corporation


GOLD

, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see


the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here


.

Eldorado Gold has an expected earnings growth rate of 2,400% for 2020. The company’s shares have surged 77.3% in the past year.

Agnico Eagle has an expected earnings growth rate of 104.1% for 2020. Its shares have returned 54% in the past year.

Barrick has an expected earnings growth rate of 148% for 2020. The company’s shares have gained 64.9% in the past year.

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