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- If you are wondering whether Freeport-McMoRan’s current share price still offers value, it helps to zoom out and look at what the recent moves and fundamentals are really pricing in.
- Freeport-McMoRan last closed at US$66.45, with total returns of 8.3% over 7 days, 6.5% over 30 days, 28.0% year to date and 114.9% over 1 year. This naturally raises questions about how much of the story is already reflected in the price.
- Recent news coverage has focused on Freeport-McMoRan’s role in key materials markets and how sentiment toward metals and mining names is feeding into trading activity. This backdrop helps frame why the stock’s recent performance looks the way it does and why valuation has become a central talking point.
- On Simply Wall St’s checklist, Freeport-McMoRan scores 1 out of 6 on undervaluation. The next step is to compare different valuation approaches, then finish by looking at a more holistic way to judge whether the price makes sense.
Freeport-McMoRan scores just 1/6 on our valuation checks. See what other red flags we found in the full valuation breakdown.
Approach 1: Freeport-McMoRan Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) Analysis
A Discounted Cash Flow, or DCF, model takes the cash flows a company is expected to generate in the future and discounts them back to a single estimate of what those cash flows are worth in dollars today.
For Freeport-McMoRan, the model used is a 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity approach. The latest reported free cash flow is about $678.0 million. Analysts provide explicit free cash flow estimates for the next few years, and Simply Wall St then extrapolates these further out. On this basis, projected free cash flow reaches $8.6b in 2030, with intermediate annual figures ranging from $3.7b to around $10.2b in the years between 2026 and 2030, all in dollar terms.
When these projected cash flows are discounted back, the DCF model arrives at an estimated intrinsic value of about $81.24 per share. Compared with the recent share price of $66.45, the model output suggests the stock is 18.2% undervalued according to this cash flow based approach.
Result: UNDERVALUED
Our Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) analysis suggests Freeport-McMoRan is undervalued by 18.2%. Track this in your watchlist or portfolio, or discover 62 more high quality undervalued stocks.
FCX Discounted Cash Flow as at Apr 2026
Approach 2: Freeport-McMoRan Price vs Earnings
For profitable companies, the P/E ratio is a useful way to think about value because it links what you pay directly to the earnings the business is currently generating. You can also compare it easily across similar companies.
What counts as a “normal” P/E depends a lot on how quickly earnings are expected to grow and how risky those earnings appear. Higher expected growth and lower perceived risk usually justify a higher P/E, while slower growth or higher uncertainty tend to line up with a lower P/E.
Freeport-McMoRan currently trades on a P/E of 43.47x. That is above the Metals and Mining industry average of 22.52x and the peer group average of 28.81x, so on simple comparisons the shares look expensive relative to many peers.
Simply Wall St’s Fair Ratio is a proprietary estimate of what P/E might make sense given Freeport-McMoRan’s earnings profile, industry, profit margins, market cap and risk factors. Because it blends these elements into a single number, it can be more tailored than a basic peer or industry comparison. For Freeport-McMoRan, the Fair Ratio is 28.88x, which is below the current P/E of 43.47x, indicating that the shares look overvalued on this metric.
Result: OVERVALUED
NYSE:FCX P/E Ratio as at Apr 2026
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Upgrade Your Decision Making: Choose your Freeport-McMoRan Narrative
Earlier it was mentioned that there is an even better way to think about valuation, and that is where Narratives come in, giving you a simple story for Freeport-McMoRan that connects your view of its future revenue, earnings and margins to a forecast and then to a Fair Value you can compare directly with today’s price.
A Narrative on Simply Wall St is your own structured perspective, where you set assumptions such as whether Freeport-McMoRan’s 5 year revenue ends up closer to about US$29.7b or US$36.7b, or earnings nearer US$2.3b or US$6.3b, and the platform turns that story into projected cash flows, a P/E assumption and an implied Fair Value.
Because Narratives on the Community page are used by millions of investors and update as new earnings, guidance or news arrives, they give you a living framework to decide whether Freeport-McMoRan looks expensive or cheap at its current share price based on the gap between Price and Fair Value rather than relying only on a single DCF or P/E snapshot.
For Freeport-McMoRan, we will make it really easy for you with previews of two leading Freeport-McMoRan Narratives:
Fair value in this bullish narrative: US$67.40 per share.
Implied pricing gap: about 1.4% undervalued versus the recent US$66.45 share price.
Revenue growth assumption: 11.26% per year.
- Focuses on copper exposure, the Indonesian smelter and U.S. operations, with analysts modeling revenue of US$35.7b and earnings of US$5.3b by 2029, plus a future P/E of 23.5x.
- Highlights potential upside from U.S. policy support, brownfield expansions and technology such as precision leaching, alongside a capital allocation framework that targets 50% of excess cash flow for dividends and buybacks.
- Flags key risks around Indonesia concentration, ore grades, regulation, policy-driven copper premiums and competition that could affect long term margins and cash generation.
Fair value in this cautious narrative: US$44.08 per share.
Implied pricing gap: about 50.8% overvalued versus the recent US$66.45 share price.
Revenue growth assumption: 4% per year.
- Points to an unstable dividend record, previous underperformance versus the industry and market, and a highly cyclical earnings profile that depends heavily on commodity prices.
- Still recognises key drivers such as global copper demand from EVs, AI and green infrastructure, supported by the Grasberg mine and large U.S. operations.
- Builds a more conservative case using revenue of roughly US$35b to US$38b and earnings of about US$3.5b to US$4.0b by 2029, which support a lower fair value estimate than the current share price.
If these previews help clarify how different assumptions lead to very different fair values, it is worth reviewing the full set of community views for context and then deciding which inputs line up best with your own expectations for Freeport-McMoRan.
Do you think there’s more to the story for Freeport-McMoRan? Head over to our Community to see what others are saying!
NYSE:FCX 1-Year Stock Price Chart
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data
and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your
financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data.
Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.
Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Companies discussed in this article include FCX.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com


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