We recently published a list of 10 Stocks on Jim Cramer’s Radar Recently. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) stands against other stocks that are on Jim Cramer’s radar.

On Thursday, Jim Cramer, the host of Mad Money, addressed the growing concerns surrounding the current tariff policies. He questioned the effectiveness of these tariffs as he asked:

“What’s the deal with these heavy-handed tariffs? Look, I’ve never been a dogmatic free trader. I believe in fair trade, a pretty fierce belief just so you know and we can only get that by lowering the boom on our trading partners who rip us off as a matter of policy.”

READ ALSO: Jim Cramer’s Take on These 10 Stocks and Jim Cramer’s Lightning Round: 8 Stocks in Focus.

Cramer explained that while he has always supported the idea of tariffs in principle, especially when they are part of a well-thought-out strategy, he expressed frustration over how the new trade regime is being executed. He said he was taken aback by how poorly the administration was rolling out these changes, which he felt lacked a clear and coherent plan. Cramer then pointed out what James Surowiecki, the author of The Wisdom of Crowds, said about how the White House is calculating tariffs.

“The White House simply took our trade deficit with each country and then divided it by that country’s exports to America. Then they cut that number in half to determine the tariff rate we’d be slapping on the country in question.”

Cramer noted that just hours later, an unnamed official from the White House confirmed this and  described it as “the sum of all unfair trade practices, the sum of all cheating.” Cramer called it ill-advised. Later in the day, President Trump made a statement suggesting that he might be open to reducing tariffs if presented with “phenomenal” offers. However, Cramer raised an important question: “Who determines what those offers are, and what do they even mean?” He admitted that he had no clear answer to that question.

“Here’s the bottom line: I wish I could get behind this new tariff regime because I’ve never been a free trader ever. But the White House doesn’t seem to understand what it’s trying to do and the not-really-reciprocal tariffs we got yesterday could do tremendous damage to the US economy, of course including the stock market, without changing the bad behavior of our trading partners. To me, this has become a lose-lose, which is very tough to accept because I wanted tariffs to change things, not to wreck things.”

Our Methodology

For this article, we compiled a list of 10 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money aired on April 3. We listed the stocks in ascending order of their hedge fund sentiment as of the fourth quarter of 2024, which was taken from Insider Monkey’s database of over 1,000 hedge funds.

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).

Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) Is a Buy – Jim Cramer Sees Copper Comeback Powered by ChinaFreeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 88

A caller asked if they should hold Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) and Cramer replied:

“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.”

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) focuses on extracting mineral resources in North America, South America, and Indonesia. The company primarily deals with copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and other metals. Interestingly enough, only last week, Cramer commented:

“Alright, I think copper’s going higher and one of the reasons why I like it, by the way… China’s coming back. They’re the biggest user of copper. But also something that Jensen Huang told me, from Nvidia, he said, listen, copper is just the right thing to have in the data center. I was hoping it’ll be replaced by glass… Two-thirds of the copper is used by China and China’s making a comeback here. At least parts are trying to make it a comeback.”

Overall, FCX ranks 1st on our list of stocks that are on Jim Cramer’s radar. 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 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.

Southern Copper saw its stock price experience very little movement, increasing by just under 1% over the last month, during a period marked by heightened market volatility due to global trade tensions. While Southern Copper navigated this challenging market situation, major indexes like the Dow Jones and Nasdaq faced significant declines due to new tariffs announced by the Trump administration. Despite the broader market downturn, which saw significant losses in tech and manufacturing stocks, the company’s stock remained stable. This resilience against such a turbulent market backdrop highlights the steadiness of Southern Copper during these uncertain times.

Buy, Hold or Sell Southern Copper? View our complete analysis and fair value estimate and you decide.

NYSE:SCCO Earnings Per Share Growth as at Apr 2025

Trump’s oil boom is here — pipelines are primed to profit. Discover the 20 US stocks riding the wave.

Over the last five years, Southern Copper’s total shareholder returns reached 256.17%, reflecting robust growth. This impressive performance is underscored by key developments such as the rapid ramp-up of the Buenavista Zinc concentrator, significantly enhancing zinc production, and the expansion of their Peruvian operations, contributing to record sales of US$11.43 billion in 2024. The company also improved net profit margins, from 24.5% to 29.5% between 2023 and 2024, supporting profitability.

Despite these accomplishments, Southern Copper underperformed the US Metals and Mining industry and the broader market over the past year, focusing investor attention on the challenges posed by regulatory risks and increasing operating costs. Yet, with initiatives like the Tia Maria and El Pilar projects aiming for long-term scalability, the company continues to pursue growth. The dividend policy, with a consistent quarterly cash dividend culminating in US$0.70 per share in early 2025, further highlights its commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Gain insights into Southern Copper’s past trends and performance with our report on the company’s historical track record.

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 NYSE:SCCO.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com

The FTSE 100 (^FTSE), US and European stocks extended the previous day's losses on Friday, ending a week of bloodletting following US president Donald Trump's announcement of a global shakeup in how the US organises trade.

Trump said on Wednesday the US will place effective tariff rates at their highest level in more than 100 years. On Thursday, stocks saw their worst one-day sell off since 2020, wiping out around $2.5tn (£1.9tn).

The US president, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, said the rollout of his tariffs is "going very well", adding that he is open to "phenomenal" offers from countries to negotiate down the new rates.

On Thursday, the UK government published a list of products it could plan to slap retaliatory tariffs on, in a sign it's potentially prepared to take a tougher stance than it has. The latest US tariffs came out at 10% for UK imports to the US, a better result than the likes of the EU, which is negotiating a 20% increase.

Today, China announced it will retaliate with a 34% tariff for US imports.

Read more: Trending tickers: Apple, Nike, Starbucks, Best Buy and Restoration Hardware

  • The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) had fallen nearly 4.3% by the closing bell, bringing weekly losses to about 6.3%.

  • Top fallers in the index include banking stocks, asset managers and miners. Standard Chartered (STAN.L), Barclays (BARC.L), Natwest (NWG.L) and HSBC (HSBA.L) were all more than 2.9% lower. Glencore (GLEN.L), Antofagasta (ANTO.L) and Anglo American (AAL.L) also sat around the bottom of the index.

  • Germany's DAX (^GDAXI) lost 4.2%, while the CAC 40 (^FCHI) in Paris dropped 3.7%.

  • The pan-European STOXX 600 (^STOXX) dipped 4.7%.

  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) pulled back around 2.3%, or about 1,300 points. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) also sank about 3.8%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) dropped 3.9%.

  • Economists are warning that with tariffs as-is, the risk of a US recession is rising. The monthly jobs report released on Friday showed a labour market that held steady ahead of Trump's biggest tariffs. The US added 228,000 jobs in March, beating estimates, though the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2%.

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LIVE COVERAGE IS OVER20 updates

  • Fri, April 4, 2025 at 11:30 AM EDTLucy Harley-McKeownThanks for reading!

    That’s it from me. Head over to our US site for more market moving news.

  • Fri, April 4, 2025 at 11:00 AM EDTLucy Harley-McKeownCould there be a bounce?

    Chris Beauchamp, chief market Analyst at online trading platform IG, said:

    “Today’s trading has had an air of panic about it, which may provide the fuel for a short-term bounce, but until the administration changes its tune on tariffs or gets its tax cut plans through such rallies are unlikely to go on too long. With the VIX at elevated levels, investors can continue to expect wild swings for the time being.”

  • Fri, April 4, 2025 at 9:30 AM EDTLucy Harley-McKeownHow US stocks are faring at the opening bell
  • Fri, April 4, 2025 at 7:06 AM EDTLucy Harley-McKeownCopper prices tank

    Bellwether commodity copper is down around 5% today, dragging miners down with it.

    Copper Plunges More Than 5%, Biggest Loss Since July 2022

    — LiveSquawk (@LiveSquawk) April 4, 2025

  • Fri, April 4, 2025 at 6:53 AM EDTLucy Harley-McKeownChina announces slew of additional tariffs

    Reuters reported:

    The Finance Ministry said it would impose additional tariffs of 34% on all U.S. goods from April 10.

    Beijing also announced controls on exports of medium and heavy rare-earths, including samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium to the United States, effective April 4.

    “The purpose of the Chinese government’s implementation of export controls on relevant items in accordance with the law is to better safeguard national security and interests, and to fulfill international obligations such as non-proliferation,” the Commerce Ministry said in a statement.

    It also added 11 entities to the “unreliable entity” list, which allows Beijing to take punitive actions against foreign entities.

  • Fri, April 4, 2025 at 5:52 AM EDTLucy Harley-McKeownApple set to compound losses

    Apple (AAPL) saw its market value plunge by more than $300bn on Thursday, making it one of Wall Street’s biggest casualties following Donald Trump’s latest tariff offensive.

    Shares in the iPhone maker fell more than 9% by the close of trading in New York on Thursday, wiping out its market capitalisation, which dropped from $3.36tn to $3.05tn (£2.59tn to £2.35tn)— marking its largest one-day valuation loss on record. The stock rebounded slightly in pre-market trading, and it is currently hovering just above the flatline.

    Trump’s tariff push targeted Apple’s (AAPL) key suppliers and manufacturing hubs across Asia, including China, Taiwan, India, and Vietnam, imposing hefty new tariffs on goods imported to the US. This move threatens to disrupt the production of nearly every Apple product, from iPhones to iPads, Macs, and accessories.

    The bulk of Apple’s (AAPL) iPhones are manufactured in China, which has been slapped with a 54% tariff. If these tariffs remain in place, Apple faces a difficult decision: absorb the extra costs or pass them on to consumers.

    The launch price of the cheapest iPhone 16 model in the US was set at $799. However, according to calculations from analysts at Rosenblatt Securities, the price could surge by up to 43%, potentially driving the cost of the phone to $1,142 if Apple is able to shift the burden onto customers.

    For the higher-end iPhone 16 Pro Max, which boasts a 6.9-inch display and 1 terabyte of storage, the price could jump from its current retail price of $1,599 to as much as $2,300, should a 43% increase be passed down to consumers.

    Read more on Yahoo Finance UK

  • Fri, April 4, 2025 at 5:32 AM EDTLucy Harley-McKeownUK construction output falls for third month in a rowConstruction cranes building towers on a construction site (Richard Newstead via Getty Images)

    Some say that a large number of cranes on the horizon in any city is a good indicator of economic growth… a phenomenon which is currently eluding the UK’s construction sector, which saw its third month of declines in March, according to new S&P Global data.

    The monthly PMI also clocked a reduced number of job openings and input cost inflation at its highest level for 26 months.

    The index posted 46.4 in March, up from a 57-month low of 44.6 in February but still well below the neutral 50 threshold.

    Sluggish demand conditions contributed to another marked deterioration in construction order books. Lower levels of incoming new work have been recorded throughout 2025 to date. Construction companies often noted a lack of sales enquiries and greater competition for new work, the release said.

  • Fri, April 4, 2025 at 5:22 AM EDTLucy Harley-McKeownBP’s stock lower following news of top-level change
  • Fri, April 4, 2025 at 5:21 AM EDTLucy Harley-McKeownBP chair to resign following shareholder pressure

    Oil major BP’s chair Helge Lund will step down next year, the company said.

    Lund, who has been at the helm since 2019, has faced calls by BP’s shareholders to overhaul the company’s strategy, including a board shakeup. Notorious hedge fund Elliott Management is among the chorus pushing for change.

    “Having fundamentally reset our strategy, BP’s focus now is on delivering the strategy at pace, improving performance and growing shareholder value. Now is the right time to start the process to find my successor and enable an orderly and seamless handover,” said Lund.

    “We are starting a comprehensive search to identify chair candidates with the credibility and relevant experience to lead the board and continue driving management’s safe execution of the reset strategy,” said Amanda Blanc, the boss of Aviva and a senior independent director at BP, who is leading the search for a replacement.

  • Fri, April 4, 2025 at 5:15 AM EDTLucy Harley-McKeownDefensive stocks march higher

    AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said:

    “Defensive stocks continued to buck the sell-off, with SSE, British American Tobacco and Diageo among the risers on the FTSE 100. You can see where people’s priorities lie – keeping the lights on, having a smoke and a pint of Guinness are simple pleasures when the world is falling apart.

    “Tariffs add complexity to an already tricky situation for the UK. From Sunday, companies are likely to push up prices to offset extra employment-related costs linked to last October’s Budget. While firms will be acutely aware that consumers are already under enough financial pressure, most won’t be prepared to stomach lower profit margins so these costs will be passed on as much as possible. Sadly, job cuts also look inevitable.

    “Against a backdrop of chaos, there was more news on takeovers and IPOs. Investment trust consolidation has been on overdrive over the past 12 months and that trend was firmly intact despite the market sell-off. Fidelity Japan Trust said it wasn’t interested in being gobbled up by AVI Japan Opportunity Trust. The two trusts might invest in the same part of the world but their styles are very different. AVI takes an activist approach whereas Fidelity has a growth at a reasonable price style.

    “Quantum Base certainly picked the wrong week for its UK stock market debut, but at least the IPO wasn’t yesterday. The quantum science company enjoyed a small bounce as its shares began trading.”

  • Fri, April 4, 2025 at 4:33 AM EDTLucy Harley-McKeownNike plunges on trade worries

    Pedro Goncalves writes:

    Shares of footwear and sports apparel giant Nike plunged more than 14% on Thursday following Trump’s announcement of sweeping tariffs on trading partners, erasing $13.9bn in market value.

    Starting 5 April, all imports will face a baseline tariff of 10%. On 9 April, an additional rate will be applied to goods from about 60 countries. China, in particular, will see a 34% reciprocal tariff on top of the existing 20% tariff, bringing the total to 54%. Vietnam will face a 46% tariff, while Indonesia will see a 32% duty.

    Nike’s supply chain is heavily dependent on these countries. Factories in Vietnam, Indonesia and China produce approximately 50%, 27%, and 18% of Nike Brand footwear, respectively. Additionally, about 28%, 16%, and 15% of Nike Brand apparel is manufactured in Vietnam, China and Cambodia, respectively.

    “What president Trump presented … was a little bit more aggressive than what I think many people were hoping,” Telsey Advisory Group’s Joe Feldman told Yahoo Finance. Many retail companies “thought they were off the hook for a while because they didn’t have a lot of exposure to China, or not a lot to Canada, Mexico … [they’re] clearly rethinking everything right now”.

  • Fri, April 4, 2025 at 4:29 AM EDTLucy Harley-McKeownGold dips despite market turmoil

    Vicky McKeever writes:

    Gold prices dipped on Friday morning, as investors weighed the developments around trade tariffs.

    Gold futures (GC=F) fell 0.1% to $3,118.20 per ounce at the time of writing, while the spot price declined 0.4% to $3,102.82 an ounce.

    Pete Walden, managing director of BullionByPost, the UK’s largest online bullion dealer, said: “Ordinarily, this kind of uncertainty would support a rally in gold. After all, gold is traditionally seen as the ultimate safe haven asset — a store of value when other investments falter.”

    “In extreme market downturns, gold can sometimes fall alongside equities — not because it’s lost its appeal, but because investors need to raise cash quickly,” he said. “Many are forced to sell hard assets like gold to meet margin calls on stock positions.

    “We saw this clearly in early 2020, during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, when gold prices dropped sharply as markets crashed,” Walden added. “But that dip was short-lived. Once the immediate need for cash eased, gold rebounded rapidly and went on to reach record highs, reaffirming its role as a long-term safe haven.”

  • Fri, April 4, 2025 at 4:26 AM EDTLucy Harley-McKeownGlobal recession odds lifted to 60%: JP Morgan

    JP Morgan is ramping up its bets for the chances of a global recession, increasing its prediction from 40% to 60%.

    Reuters wrote:

    On Wednesday, Trump imposed a 10% baseline tariff on all imports to the U.S. and higher duties on dozens of other countries.

    “Disruptive US policies has been recognized as the biggest risk to the global outlook all year,” J.P. Morgan strategists, led by Bruce Kasman, said in a note on Thursday, adding that US trade policy has turned less business-friendly than anticipated.

    “The effect of this tax hike is likely to be magnified through retaliation, a slide in US business sentiment, and supply chain disruptions,” Kasman said.

    Other Wall Street brokerages, including Barclays and Deutsche Bank, also warned that the U.S. economy faces a higher risk of slipping into a recession this year if Trump’s new levies remain in place.

  • Fri, April 4, 2025 at 4:17 AM EDTLucy Harley-McKeownPound dips to $1.30 following rally

    The pound is struggling against the dollar this morning, dipping 0.7% to the $1.30 mark following a rally earlier in the week.

    Currency pairings are fragile against the dollar today following the tariff impositions.

    The dollar index (DX-Y.NYB), which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies was also 0.4% higher.

  • Fri, April 4, 2025 at 4:09 AM EDTLucy Harley-McKeownTraders raise bets on UK rate cuts

    Investors are increasing their bets on interest rate cuts by major central banks in an effort to stave off a potential global recession.

    On Thursday, investors piled on more expectations for a rate cut by the BoE, driven by concerns over the damage to trade and economic growth caused by Trump’s tariff decision

    Futures markets suggest a reduction of approximately 60 basis points (bps) to the BoE’s benchmark Bank Rate by December.

    This marks an increase from the 54 bps expected just a day earlier, effectively pricing in two quarter-point rate cuts. The likelihood of a rate cut in early May has also risen, now standing at 77%.

    At present, UK interest rates sit at 4.5%. However, the central bank has been cautious about further cuts, citing growing global trade uncertainty as one of the reasons it refrained from reducing rates last month.

  • Fri, April 4, 2025 at 4:01 AM EDTLucy Harley-McKeownBillionaires take combined $208bn hit: Bloomberg

    Losses on the stock market have led to billionaires taking a total $208bn financial hit, according to Bloomberg, with Tesla (TSLA) founder Elon Musk’s book $11bn lower, Meta’s (META) Mark Zuckerberg down $17.9bn and Amazon (AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos down $15.9bn.

    The figures come from Bloomberg’s Billionaire index.

  • Fri, April 4, 2025 at 3:52 AM EDTLucy Harley-McKeownProducts on the UK government’s potential retaliation list

    The government published a long list of products the UK exports to the US that could be considered for higher levies, including:

    • Livestock such as horses and cows

    • Various meats

    • Drinks, including whiskey

    • Furniture

    • Toys

    • Boats and boat parts

    • Cars and car parts

    • Bicycles

    • Minerals and oils

  • Fri, April 4, 2025 at 3:26 AM EDTLucy Harley-McKeownUS stock futures look to extend losses

    US stock futures dipped after President Trump’s announcement of broad reciprocal tariffs sent markets into a tailspin.

    Futures attached to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F), the benchmark S&P 500 (ES=F), and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (NQ=F) fell 0.2%.

  • Fri, April 4, 2025 at 3:14 AM EDTLucy Harley-McKeownTariff recap

    Here’s what was announced by the way of higher duties:

    12:43

  • Fri, April 4, 2025 at 3:12 AM EDTLucy Harley-McKeownGood morning!

    Hello from London. There’s been chaos in the markets overnight as traders grapple with the potential economic impacts of tariffs.

    Otherwise there’s not much on the slate today in the way pf economic releases other than UK construction PMI releases and US jobs data.

    Let’s get to it.

Show more updates

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.

We recently published a list of the 10 Best Copper Stocks to Buy According to Wall Street Analysts. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) stands against other best copper stocks to buy according to Wall Street analysts.

The U.S. stock market has changed rapidly since the new president took control of the Oval Office. In the list of commodities that are recently surfacing as standout performers in the market, copper holds a significant place. The commodity has captured the attention of investors across the globe. According to The Wall Street Journal, by the end of March 2025, the U.S. copper future saw a 26% increase, reaching $5.02 per pound. The extraordinary growth, in addition to surpassing global prices, has set unprecedented records in the industry.

The recent tariff implementations from the U.S. administration stand among the heavy contributors to this surge. The U.S. president has recently announced a series of tariff increases, targeting the major trading partners of the U.S. Accordingly, the EU imports will be charged a 20% tariff. Chinese goods have the most impact at a 34% tariff. Similarly, a minimum 10% hike is imposed on all imports globally. Because of these measures, the average tariff rate has risen to 23%, the highest in over a century. The WSJ calls it the most significant shift in the United States’s approach to global trade.

READ ALSO: Why These Energy Stocks are Gaining This Week.

These new tariffs affect the import and export of various goods in the U.S. concerning copper. A rush has been noted to import the commodity into the U.S. before the new import tax rates take effect. This influx has resulted in a notable rise in physical deliveries, causing domestic copper prices to surge.

Income-seeking investors in the market, however, need to look past these immediate market reactions and focus on the long-term outlook for copper. Even in the long run, the value of copper remains robust. An article by CNBC noted that the world’s leading mining companies anticipate a 70% growth in the global demand for copper by 2050. The surge is expected to be driven by the adoption of copper-intensive technologies, such as renewable energy systems and electric vehicles. With constant growth in several customers shifting to renewable energy-based technologies, such an increase in demand for the commodity is inevitable.

On the other hand, the industry will likely face significant challenges in meeting this rise in demand. The mining industry, for instance, faces constraints like declining ore grades and the need for substantial capital investments to develop new projects. Owing to these factors, the growth in supply and the industry’s ability to sustain high copper prices in the future could take a hit.

Even so, copper stocks remain attractive, and investors are increasingly looking towards adding them to their portfolios to give them a diverse touch. The immediate price surges due to trade policies and the potential for long-term demand position the copper sector as a compelling investment avenue. But with this said, investors may be wondering what the best copper stock to buy today is.

Our Methodology

We followed a few criteria when putting together our list of best copper stocks for investors. Primarily, we considered only those copper stocks with an upside potential of 10%. The criteria were placed to present our interested investors with stocks with the prospect of significant capital appreciation. A substantial rise in the price of stocks often correlates with substantial profits for investors. Hence, we ranked our list based on this upside potential. We have also considered only those stocks followed by hedge funds listed in Insider Monkey’s Q4 2024 database. It ensures the institutional interests in the 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 (see more details here).

Is Southern Copper Corporation (SCCO) the Best Copper Stock to Buy According to Wall Street Analysts?

A large open-pit mining site, its machinery providing a long-term supply of copper.

Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 33

Upside potential: 11.07%

Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) is a major integrated copper producer headquartered in Arizona, U.S. The company has mining, smelting, and refining operations in Peru, Mexico, Argentina, Ecuador, and Chile. The company focuses on producing Copper, along with molybdenum, zinc, and silver. With one of the largest copper reserves globally and low production costs, SCCO serves construction, electronics, and industrial clients worldwide. Southern Copper Corporation differentiates itself from its competitors in the market through vertical integration and high-margin operations.

The fourth quarter earnings results indicated that Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO)’s EPS missed the estimates but only slightly by $0.01. On the other hand, the 74% surge from the year-ago quarter suggests the company’s sales are moving in an upward direction. In addition to achieving a 5.4% increase in copper sales volume, the company also recorded a 59.4% year-over-year growth in zinc sales. Guidance for 2025 revealed a production of 967,000 tons of Copper in 2025, aligning with the performance during 2024.

With 33 hedge funds from the Insider Monkey database currently invested, Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) gains moderate institutional interest. Its upside potential of 11.07% is low compared to other entries in our list of best copper stocks, suggesting a relatively conservative growth outlook from Wall Street analysts.

Overall, SCCO ranks 10th on our list of best copper stocks to buy according to Wall Street analysts. While we acknowledge the potential for SCCO 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 SCCO but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the 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.

We recently published a list of the 10 Best Copper Stocks to Buy According to Wall Street Analysts. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) stands against other best copper stocks to buy according to Wall Street analysts.

The U.S. stock market has changed rapidly since the new president took control of the Oval Office. In the list of commodities that are recently surfacing as standout performers in the market, copper holds a significant place. The commodity has captured the attention of investors across the globe. According to The Wall Street Journal, by the end of March 2025, the U.S. copper future saw a 26% increase, reaching $5.02 per pound. The extraordinary growth, in addition to surpassing global prices, has set unprecedented records in the industry.

The recent tariff implementations from the U.S. administration stand among the heavy contributors to this surge. The U.S. president has recently announced a series of tariff increases, targeting the major trading partners of the U.S. Accordingly, the EU imports will be charged a 20% tariff. Chinese goods have the most impact at a 34% tariff. Similarly, a minimum 10% hike is imposed on all imports globally. Because of these measures, the average tariff rate has risen to 23%, the highest in over a century. The WSJ calls it the most significant shift in the United States’s approach to global trade.

READ ALSO: Why These Energy Stocks are Gaining This Week.

These new tariffs affect the import and export of various goods in the U.S. concerning copper. A rush has been noted to import the commodity into the U.S. before the new import tax rates take effect. This influx has resulted in a notable rise in physical deliveries, causing domestic copper prices to surge.

Income-seeking investors in the market, however, need to look past these immediate market reactions and focus on the long-term outlook for copper. Even in the long run, the value of copper remains robust. An article by CNBC noted that the world’s leading mining companies anticipate a 70% growth in the global demand for copper by 2050. The surge is expected to be driven by the adoption of copper-intensive technologies, such as renewable energy systems and electric vehicles. With constant growth in several customers shifting to renewable energy-based technologies, such an increase in demand for the commodity is inevitable.

On the other hand, the industry will likely face significant challenges in meeting this rise in demand. The mining industry, for instance, faces constraints like declining ore grades and the need for substantial capital investments to develop new projects. Owing to these factors, the growth in supply and the industry’s ability to sustain high copper prices in the future could take a hit.

Even so, copper stocks remain attractive, and investors are increasingly looking towards adding them to their portfolios to give them a diverse touch. The immediate price surges due to trade policies and the potential for long-term demand position the copper sector as a compelling investment avenue. But with this said, investors may be wondering what the best copper stock to buy today is.

Our Methodology

We followed a few criteria when putting together our list of best copper stocks for investors. Primarily, we considered only those copper stocks with an upside potential of 10%. The criteria were placed to present our interested investors with stocks with the prospect of significant capital appreciation. A substantial rise in the price of stocks often correlates with substantial profits for investors. Hence, we ranked our list based on this upside potential. We have also considered only those stocks followed by hedge funds listed in Insider Monkey’s Q4 2024 database. It ensures the institutional interests in the 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 (see more details here).

Is Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX) the Best Copper Stock to Buy According to Wall Street Analysts?

A large open-pit copper mine with heavy machinery extracting minerals from the earth.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 88

Upside potential: 46.49%

Arizona-based company, Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) is a leading international miner primarily extracting copper, gold, and molybdenum. The company’s key assets include the Grasberg mine in Indonesia. Large-scale operations are also being conducted in North and South America. The company is known for its extensive reserves and strategic geographic presence, which allows it to serve significant sectors like construction and energy across the globe and survive in the market against competitors like Rio Tinto and Southern Copper.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) achieved a 14% increase in 2024, bringing its EBITDA to $10 billion. By scaling the leach opportunity, the company’s 2025 company guidance targets a run rate of 300 million pounds by the end of 2025. The company is also advancing several organic growth projects that are expected to gain value for its stocks in the upcoming years. This includes the brownfield expansions in the U.S. and South America. These instances have garnered a positive outlook for the company in 2025.

With 88 hedge funds from the Insider Monkey database holding stakes in the company at the end of Q4 2024, the level of institutional interest remains strong. The company has an upside potential of 46.49%, thus gaining a position in the list of best copper stocks for investors to purchase.

Overall, FCX ranks 5th on our list of best copper stocks to buy according to Wall Street analysts. While we acknowledge the potential for 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 the 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.

(Bloomberg) — Copper prices plunged below $9,000 a ton in the biggest drop since March 2020 as worries over the impact of a worsening trade war sparked a heavy selloff in metals and mining equities.

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The bellwether metal fell 6.3% to settle at $8,780 a ton in London on Friday, as losses accelerated across the industrial metals markets following Thursday’s heavy selloff. Copper traded on New York’s Comex also tumbled, on course for the biggest two-day decline since 2011. Nickel on the London Metal Exchange plunged to the lowest price since 2020.

The declines came after China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported that Beijing will retaliate with a 34% tariff on all imports from the US starting April 10. Major mining companies also plunged, with Freeport-McMoRan Inc. and Teck Resources Ltd. losing more than 10%.

It’s a whipsawing reversal for copper traders, who have up until now been mainly focused on the bullish supply-side impacts of a worldwide push to ship copper to the US before targeted levies on the metal are imposed. But with Trump’s trade barriers on all incoming goods now coming into force, the attention is shifting quickly to the consequences for demand in the US and beyond.

“While we remain structurally bullish copper in the long run, weaker global GDP and copper demand growth risk delaying the deficit we expect to see in the market this year,” Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said in a report.

LME copper fell more than 10% this week, its biggest slide since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. Comex copper was down 8.6% to $4.412 a pound at 1 pm in New York.

Aluminum fell for a 12th straight day, while nickel slumped 6.2% to settle at $14,758 a ton, the lowest since October 2020. Tin also plunged, wiping out a weekly gain driven by concerns about supply disruptions. Chinese markets were closed Friday for a public holiday.

–With assistance from Atul Prakash.

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©2025 Bloomberg L.P.

We recently published a list of 10 Stocks Everyone is Talking About After Trump’s New Tariffs. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX) stands against other stocks everyone is talking about after Trump’s new tariffs.

Countries are beginning to react to President Donald Trump’s new reciprocal tariffs and analysts believe things might not go according to the White House’s expectations, with American workers and consumers likely to see the impact of new duties.

Fred Kempe from Atlantic Council said in a latest program on CNBC that many countries can impose strong retaliatory tariffs against the US.

“I think we have to recognize what’s going to be implemented is going to be the highest effective tariff rate since the 1930s. What also happened in the 1930s is you had new trading blocks, you had new trading partners finding their way to each other, and you could find that that happens as well. And let’s not forget what also happened in the 1930s afterwards. We hope that’s not going to happen now, but, um, you know, a trade war just really never serves, in the end,  global stability, global peace.”

Kempe said investors failed to realize that Trump does not “care” about falling stock prices as he is looking to change the global trade system.

READ ALSO: 7 Best Stocks to Buy For Long-Term and 8 Cheap Jim Cramer Stocks to Invest In

For this article, we picked 10 stocks Wall Street analysts are talking about. With each stock, we have mentioned the number of hedge fund investors. 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).

Jim Cramer Says ‘Go Buy’ Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) Amid Tariff ‘Tailwind’ and AI Data Center Catalyst

A large open-pit copper mine with heavy machinery extracting minerals from the earth.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 74

Jim Cramer in a latest program on CNBC said he’s bullish on Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX) and talked about a potential demand driver for the mining company.

“There’s a JPMorgan piece out upgrading to overweight. Now, what’s important, David, is let’s say you believe in tariffs. Let’s say that everything is going wrong and you don’t like the president, or you love the president—it doesn’t matter. Freeport could have a 400 to 450 million EBITDA tailwind from tariffs. So, let’s say you’re like, “Woo, tariffs go buy some FCX.” And by the way, Jensen Huang is saying that copper is the dominant metal that goes into the data centers. It’s not in the report. The report mostly talks about, yes, Chinese stimulus, because a lot of the—almost the majority of copper is used in China. But I really like the call. The stock’s not that expensive. Go buy it.”

Diamond Hill Large Cap Concentrated Fund stated the following regarding Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:

“Among our bottom individual contributors in Q4 were HCA Healthcare and Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX). Copper-focused mining company Freeport-McMoRan faced declining copper prices amid a generally challenging macroeconomic environment, including a strong US dollar, ongoing US-China trade tensions, the potential for increased tariffs under President-elect Trump’s administration and general post-election uncertainty.”

Overall, FCX ranks 6th on our list of best mid cap growth stocks. While we acknowledge the potential of FCX, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. 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 the 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.

Southern Copper (SCCO) ended the recent trading session at $94.36, demonstrating a +0.51% swing from the preceding day's closing price. The stock's performance was behind the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.67%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.56%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.87%.

The miner's shares have seen an increase of 9.26% over the last month, surpassing the Basic Materials sector's gain of 0.34% and the S&P 500's loss of 5.28%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Southern Copper in its upcoming release. In that report, analysts expect Southern Copper to post earnings of $1.05 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 11.7%. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $2.79 billion, indicating a 7.48% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $4.63 per share and revenue of $11.7 billion. These totals would mark changes of +6.93% and +2.31%, respectively, from last year.

Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Southern Copper. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 1.22% higher. As of now, Southern Copper holds a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, Southern Copper is presently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 20.28. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 18.8.

We can additionally observe that SCCO currently boasts a PEG ratio of 1.84. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Mining – Non Ferrous industry held an average PEG ratio of 0.79.

The Mining – Non Ferrous industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 188, placing it within the bottom 25% of over 250 industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Remember to apply Zacks.com to follow these and more stock-moving metrics during the upcoming trading sessions.

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Southern Copper Corporation (SCCO) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research

Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) has been one of the most searched-for stocks on Zacks.com lately. So, you might want to look at some of the facts that could shape the stock's performance in the near term.

Over the past month, shares of this mining company have returned +9.3%, compared to the Zacks S&P 500 composite's -5.3% change. During this period, the Zacks Mining – Non Ferrous industry, which Freeport-McMoRan falls in, has gained 4.6%. The key question now is: What could be the stock's future direction?

Although media reports or rumors about a significant change in a company's business prospects usually cause its stock to trend and lead to an immediate price change, there are always certain fundamental factors that ultimately drive the buy-and-hold decision.

Revisions to Earnings Estimates

Here at Zacks, we prioritize appraising the change in the projection of a company's future earnings over anything else. That's because we believe the present value of its future stream of earnings is what determines the fair value for its stock.

Our analysis is essentially based on how sell-side analysts covering the stock are revising their earnings estimates to take the latest business trends into account. When earnings estimates for a company go up, the fair value for its stock goes up as well. And when a stock's fair value is higher than its current market price, investors tend to buy the stock, resulting in its price moving upward. Because of this, empirical studies indicate a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and short-term stock price movements.

For the current quarter, Freeport-McMoRan is expected to post earnings of $0.25 per share, indicating a change of -21.9% from the year-ago quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate has changed +1.7% over the last 30 days.

The consensus earnings estimate of $1.65 for the current fiscal year indicates a year-over-year change of +11.5%. This estimate has changed -1.1% over the last 30 days.

For the next fiscal year, the consensus earnings estimate of $2.17 indicates a change of +31.7% from what Freeport-McMoRan is expected to report a year ago. Over the past month, the estimate has changed +0.8%.

With an impressive externally audited track record, our proprietary stock rating tool — the Zacks Rank — is a more conclusive indicator of a stock's near-term price performance, as it effectively harnesses the power of earnings estimate revisions. The size of the recent change in the consensus estimate, along with three other factors related to earnings estimates, has resulted in a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for Freeport-McMoRan.

The chart below shows the evolution of the company's forward 12-month consensus EPS estimate:

12 Month EPS12-month consensus EPS estimate for FCX _12MonthEPSChartUrlProjected Revenue Growth

While earnings growth is arguably the most superior indicator of a company's financial health, nothing happens as such if a business isn't able to grow its revenues. After all, it's nearly impossible for a company to increase its earnings for an extended period without increasing its revenues. So, it's important to know a company's potential revenue growth.

In the case of Freeport-McMoRan, the consensus sales estimate of $5.59 billion for the current quarter points to a year-over-year change of -11.5%. The $26.39 billion and $28.27 billion estimates for the current and next fiscal years indicate changes of +3.7% and +7.1%, respectively.

Last Reported Results and Surprise History

Freeport-McMoRan reported revenues of $5.72 billion in the last reported quarter, representing a year-over-year change of -3.1%. EPS of $0.31 for the same period compares with $0.27 a year ago.

Compared to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.92 billion, the reported revenues represent a surprise of -3.41%. The EPS surprise was +29.17%.

Over the last four quarters, Freeport-McMoRan surpassed consensus EPS estimates three times. The company topped consensus revenue estimates three times over this period.

Valuation

Without considering a stock's valuation, no investment decision can be efficient. In predicting a stock's future price performance, it's crucial to determine whether its current price correctly reflects the intrinsic value of the underlying business and the company's growth prospects.

Comparing the current value of a company's valuation multiples, such as its price-to-earnings (P/E), price-to-sales (P/S), and price-to-cash flow (P/CF), to its own historical values helps ascertain whether its stock is fairly valued, overvalued, or undervalued, whereas comparing the company relative to its peers on these parameters gives a good sense of how reasonable its stock price is.

As part of the Zacks Style Scores system, the Zacks Value Style Score (which evaluates both traditional and unconventional valuation metrics) organizes stocks into five groups ranging from A to F (A is better than B; B is better than C; and so on), making it helpful in identifying whether a stock is overvalued, rightly valued, or temporarily undervalued.

Freeport-McMoRan is graded B on this front, indicating that it is trading at a discount to its peers. Click here to see the values of some of the valuation metrics that have driven this grade.

Conclusion

The facts discussed here and much other information on Zacks.com might help determine whether or not it's worthwhile paying attention to the market buzz about Freeport-McMoRan. However, its Zacks Rank #3 does suggest that it may perform in line with the broader market in the near term.

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Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research

Freeport-McMoRan recently affirmed a cash dividend of $0.15 per share, integrating a base and variable payout structure that aligns with its performance-based framework. This move highlights the company’s commitment to returning value to shareholders against a backdrop of market volatility. Over the last month, FCX shares rose 3%, possibly buoyed by the dividend announcement. Despite broader market fluctuations, with major indexes like the S&P 500 recovering from steep losses earlier in March, FCX’s performance may reflect investor optimism amidst the ongoing economic narrative, including anticipation around international trade policies and their potential implications.

Buy, Hold or Sell Freeport-McMoRan? View our complete analysis and fair value estimate and you decide.

NYSE:FCX Earnings Per Share Growth as at Apr 2025

Diversify your portfolio with solid dividend payers offering reliable income streams to weather potential market turbulence.

Over the past five years, Freeport-McMoRan delivered a total shareholder return exceeding 430%. The company’s success has been fueled by several critical developments. Notably, the strategic alliance with Caterpillar in late 2023 to automate its haulage fleet at the Bagdad mine marked a substantial operational advancement. This move, coupled with the implementation of technological innovations and automation across its U.S. operations, created significant cost savings and efficiency gains. Additionally, the approval of copper as a critical mineral introduced potential tax advantages, although this remains a developing situation.

The company’s focus on production expansion has been evident, with copper production reaching 3.17 billion pounds for the first nine months of 2024. Leadership changes, such as Katherine Quirk’s appointment as CEO in 2024, underscore ongoing efforts to enhance performance. While Freeport-McMoRan underperformed the broader U.S. market over the last year, its initiatives in production, strategic alliances, and tax optimizations offer insights into its favorable longer-term performance.

Gain insights into Freeport-McMoRan’s historical outcomes by reviewing our past performance report.

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 NYSE:FCX.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com

Wednesday, April 2, 2025The Zacks Research Daily presents the best research output of our analyst team. Today's Research Daily features new research reports on 16 major stocks, including Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) and Chubb Ltd. (CB), as well as a micro-cap stock Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Co. (HBB). The Zacks microcap research is unique as our research content on these small and under-the-radar companies is the only research of its type in the country.These research reports have been hand-picked from the roughly 70 reports published by our analyst team today.You can see all of today’s research reports here >>>Ahead of Wall StreetThe daily 'Ahead of Wall Street' article is a must-read for all investors who would like to be ready for that day's trading action. The article comes out before the market opens and attempts to make sense of that morning's economic releases and how they will affect that day's market action. You can read this article for free on our home page and can actually sign up there to get an email notification as this article comes out each morning.You can read today's AWS here >>> Pre-Markets Down Again on "Liberation Day"Today's Featured Research ReportsShares of Exxon Mobil have gained +3.2% over the past year, against the Zacks Oil and Gas – Integrated – International industry’s gain of +5.5%. The company’s high-value assets in the Permian Basin and Guyana drive robust production growth, doubling upstream earnings since 2019. The Pioneer acquisition and Guyana ramp-up have enhanced profitability, while robust structural savings strengthen resilience.  With a lower exposure to debt capital, XOM supports steady cash flows, dividends, buybacks and investments in high-return projects. Expansion in low-carbon tech, including Baytown's hydrogen facility, positions it for future growth.Yet refining margins are pressured due to global capacity increases, with refining profits softening. The refining margin pressure intensifies the reliance on upstream operations, which is vulnerable to fluctuating oil and gas prices. Commodity price volatility challenges profitability, especially as crude prices dipped in the fourth quarter.(You can read the full research report on Exxon Mobil here >>>)Bristol-Myers Squibb’s shares have outperformed the Zacks Medical – Biomedical and Genetics industry over the past year (+19.8% vs. -8.7%). The company’s newer drugs like Reblozyl, Breyanzi, Yervoy, Camzyos and Opdualag maintain momentum for the company. Label expansion of blockbuster oncology drug Opdivo should fuel growth. Growth in blockbuster drug Eliquis is another positive.Nevertheless, the recent acquisitions of Mirati, Karuna and RayzeBio should strengthen and diversify its portfolio. Bristol Myers’ efforts to streamline operations should boost the bottom line. The company is encouraging efforts to boost top-line growth.However, the outlook for 2025 is weak. Generic competition for Revlimid, Pomalyst, Sprycel and Abraxane is adversely impacting revenue growth.  While the performance of new drugs is encouraging, they will take some time to make a significant contribution to the top line.(You can read the full research report on Bristol-Myers Squibb here >>>)Shares of Chubb have gained +19.8% over the past year against the Zacks Insurance – Property and Casualty industry’s gain of +25.1%. The company’s suite of compelling products as well as services, focus on capitalizing on the potential of middle-market businesses and investments in various strategic initiatives pave the way for long-term growth.Several distribution agreements have expanded its network, boosting its market presence. An impressive inorganic growth story helps to achieve a higher long-term return on equity. Chubb boasts a strong capital position with sufficient cash generation capabilities that ensure steady payouts to investors.Chubb expects the quarterly adjusted net investment income to have a run rate between $1.67 billion and $1.75 billion over the next six months. However, exposure to catastrophe loss induces underwriting volatility. Escalating expenses weigh on margin expansion.(You can read the full research report on Chubb here >>>)Hamilton Beach Brands’ shares have outperformed the Zacks Household Appliances industry over the year-to-date period (+18.7% vs. -17.7%). This microcap company with market capitalization of $268.41 million achieved a record gross margin of 26% in 2024, up 300 bps year over year, driven by lower costs, improved mix and pricing discipline.Operating profit rose 23.1% to $43.2 million. A strong cash flow of $65.4 million enabled debt elimination, ending with a net cash position of $0.6 million. HBB expanded into high-margin healthcare with HealthBeacon, targeting more than 50% patient growth in 2025. Product innovation, including premium offerings and e-commerce expansion, is driving market share gains.U.S. consumer sales rose 3.6%, with strong growth in Mexico and commercial blender placements. Proactive tariff mitigation and supply-chain diversification protect margins. The 2025 guidance includes mid-single-digit revenue growth, operating profit outpacing sales and $40-$50 million in free cash flow.(You can read the full research report on Hamilton Beach Brands here >>>)Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Barclays PLC (BCS), Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX) and Waste Connections, Inc. (WCN).Mark VickerySenior EditorNote: Sheraz Mian heads the Zacks Equity Research department and is a well-regarded expert of aggregate earnings. He is frequently quoted in the print and electronic media and publishes the weekly Earnings Trends and Earnings Preview reports. If you want an email notification each time Sheraz publishes a new article, please click here>>>

Today's Must Read

ExxonMobil's (XOM) Guyana & Permian Assets Aid Production

New Drugs Fuel Bristol Myers (BMY) Amid Generic Competition

Better Pricing, New Business Growth Drive Chubb Limited (CB)

Featured Reports

Exploration Progress, Debt Reduction to Aid Freeport (FCX)Per the Zacks analyst, Freeport will gain from its progress in exploration activities to expand production capacity and efforts to deleverage its balance sheet amid headwinds from higher costs.n

Operating Prowess Aid Waste Connections (WCN), Liquidity LowPer the Zacks analyst, Waste Connections' low-overhead, highly efficient operational structure allows it to expand into geographically contiguous markets. Low liquidity remains a concern.

Strength in Cash App and Square Ecosystem Aids Block (XYZ)Per the Zacks analyst, Block is benefitting from strengthening Cash App engagement and Square ecosystem, which is contributing well to its gross payment volume.

Sun Life (SLF) Gains on Solid Asia Business Amid High CostsPer the Zacks analyst, Sun Life is set for grow on solid Asia business that are expected to provide higher return and expanding global asset management business. However, high costs remain a concern.

Solid Growth Across Segments, AI Integration Aid HubSpot (HUBS)Per the Zacks Analyst, HubSpot is set to benefit from solid user engagement across all segments. Management's strong focus on integrating AI capabilities across the product suites is a tailwind.

DICK'S Sporting's (DKS) Sturdy Comps Run to Propel Top-LinePer the Zacks analyst, strong transactions and pricing have aided DICK'S Sporting's comps and top line. Growth stems from its omnichannel strategy, unique products, brand loyalty, and top-tier service

Bio-Techne (TECH) Banks on Growth Pillar, Macro Woes WorryThe Zacks analyst is impressed with Bio-Techne's ongoing traction in the GMP reagents business, a key part of its cell and gene therapy growth vertical. Yet, macroeconomic woes may hurt its profits.

New Upgrades

Restructuring, Strategic Buyouts to Support Barclays (BCS)Per the Zacks analyst, restructuring efforts to simplify business and boost operating efficiency, Tesco's retail banking operation buyout and solid balance sheet will likely aid Barclays' financials.

RingCentral (RNG) Rides on Strong Portfolio, Partner BasePer the Zacks analyst, RingCentral benefits from solid demand for its Unified Communications as a Service and contact center software-as-a-service solutions.

Rising Commercial and Defense Orders Aid Triumph Group (TGI)Per the Zacks analyst, Triumph Group is likely to benefit from increasing orders from its diverse customer base including commercial airplane producers and various military organizations globally.

New Downgrades

Low Volumes to Weigh on Caterpillar's (CAT) ResultsThe Zacks analyst is concerned that the low volume trends in two of its major segments- Construction Industries and Resource Industries will continue to hurt Caterpillar's top-line performance.

Mondelez (MDLZ) Struggles With Cost Inflation, Pricing HelpsPer the Zacks analyst, Mondelez is struggling with soaring cocoa costs, currency headwinds, and margin pressure. However, strategic pricing actions help offset some inflationary challenges.

Weak Residential Construction Hurts Owens Corning (OC) Per the Zacks analyst, Owens Corning business is being hurt by weak residential new construction and remodeling activities. Also, cost inflation surrounding the market is an added concern.

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Bristol Myers Squibb Company (BMY) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Barclays PLC (BCS) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Chubb Limited (CB) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Waste Connections, Inc. (WCN) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Hamilton Beach Brands Holding Company (HBB) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. FCX has provided an update on its first-quarter 2025 results, highlighting that its global mining operations approximated production expectations. However, due to the timing of shipments from PT Freeport Indonesia (“PTFI”), a portion of the first-quarter production was deferred to future periods. Following the receipt of regulatory approvals on March 17, 2025, PTFI was able to resume concentrate export shipments from Indonesia, which had been temporarily restricted since December 2024. In addition, PTFI continues to ramp up production at its newly commissioned precious metals refinery (PMR).FCX expects its consolidated copper sales for the first quarter to align with its January 2025 forecast of 850 million pounds, while its gold sales are anticipated to be about 100,000 ounces lower than the January forecast of 225,000 ounces. The company estimates that consolidated unit net cash costs for the first quarter will be approximately 5% higher than the January guidance of $2.05 per pound of copper, mainly due to the timing of gold shipments, which has led to lower by-product credits. FCX is currently reviewing its annual consolidated sales guidance as part of its regular quarterly forecast updates but does not expect any significant changes to its 2025 annual outlook.FCX expects its consolidated average realized copper price for the first quarter to be around $4.40 per pound, higher than the London Metal Exchange (LME) average quarterly settlement price of $4.24 per pound. The company anticipates its average copper selling price will exceed the LME average, as roughly one-third of its consolidated sales are tied to U.S. Commodity Exchange Inc. (COMEX) prices.Shares of FCX have lost 21.8% over the past year compared with a 16.2% decline of its industry.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

FCX’s Rank & Key Picks

FCX currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).Better-ranked stocks in the basic materials space include Carpenter Technology Corporation CRS, CSW Industrials Inc. CSWI and Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. AXTACarpenter Technology currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). CRS beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters, with the average earnings surprise being 15.7%. The company's shares have soared 169.6% in the past year. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CSW Industrials’ current fiscal-year earnings is pegged at $8.50. CSWI, carrying a Zacks Rank #2, surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average earnings surprise being 10.1%. The company's shares have rallied 28.4% in the past year.Axalta Coating Systems, which currently carries a Zacks Rank #1, beat the consensus estimate in each of the trailing four quarters. In this time frame, it has delivered an earnings surprise of roughly 16.3%, on average. AXTA’s shares have gained 1.2% over the past year. 

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Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Carpenter Technology Corporation (CRS) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (AXTA) : Free Stock Analysis Report

CSW Industrials, Inc. (CSWI) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research

(Reuters) – Miner Freeport-McMoRan lowered its forecast for first-quarter gold sales on Monday, after shipment timing issues in Indonesia led to a deferral of a portion of its quarterly production to future periods.

Freeport operates Indonesia's Grasberg, one of the world's largest gold and copper mines, and had been building a smelter in the country as part of an operating agreement with Jakarta officials. That smelter was damaged by a fire last year and was shut down.

However, Freeport said it received regulatory approvals on March 17, and had resumed concentrate export shipments from Indonesia, which had been temporarily restricted.

The company said it expects first-quarter gold sales to be roughly 100,000 ounces below its prior forecast of 225,000 ounces.

Freeport added that the average realized price for copper is expected to be roughly $4.40 per pound in the first quarter, compared with $3.94 per pound it realized a year earlier.

The miner will release its quarterly results on April 25. Analysts expect the company to post an adjusted profit of 22 cents per share for the first quarter, according to data compiled by LSEG.

(Reporting by Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)

Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) closed the most recent trading day at $37.86, moving -1.46% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.55%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 1.01%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw a decrease of 0.14%.

Shares of the mining company have appreciated by 4.09% over the course of the past month, outperforming the Basic Materials sector's gain of 0.34% and the S&P 500's loss of 6.22%.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Freeport-McMoRan in its upcoming earnings disclosure. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $0.25, marking a 21.88% fall compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $5.59 billion, down 11.5% from the year-ago period.

For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $1.65 per share and a revenue of $26.39 billion, representing changes of +11.49% and +3.69%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Freeport-McMoRan. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.11% lower. Freeport-McMoRan is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, Freeport-McMoRan is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 23.32. This denotes a premium relative to the industry's average Forward P/E of 18.88.

Investors should also note that FCX has a PEG ratio of 0.8 right now. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Mining – Non Ferrous industry held an average PEG ratio of 0.79.

The Mining – Non Ferrous industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 213, this industry ranks in the bottom 16% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow FCX in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.

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Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research

  • First-quarter 2025 copper and gold production approximated expectations

  • Timing of shipments in Indonesia impacted first-quarter 2025 gold sales

  • No material impact expected on annual consolidated sales guidance

  • Realized first quarter 2025 prices for copper reflect higher prices on U.S. sales

PHOENIX, March 31, 2025–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Freeport (NYSE: FCX) today provided an update on its first-quarter operating results.

First-quarter 2025 consolidated production from FCX’s global mining operations approximated expectations. The timing of shipments from PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) resulted in the deferral of a portion of its first quarter production to future periods.

Following receipt of regulatory approvals on March 17, 2025, PTFI resumed concentrate export shipments from Indonesia which were temporarily restricted after December 2024. Additionally, PTFI continues to ramp-up production at its newly commissioned precious metals refinery (PMR).

FCX currently expects its consolidated copper sales for first-quarter 2025 to be in line with its January 2025 guidance of 850 million pounds and its gold sales for first quarter 2025 to be approximately 100 thousand ounces below its January 2025 guidance of 225 thousand ounces.

Consolidated unit net cash costs for first-quarter 2025 are currently estimated to average approximately 5% higher than the January 2025 guidance of $2.05 per pound of copper for the first quarter, principally reflecting the timing of gold shipments resulting in lower by-product credits.

FCX is reviewing its annual consolidated sales guidance in connection with its routine quarterly forecast updates and does not currently expect a material change to its 2025 annual guidance.

FCX’s consolidated average realized price for copper for first-quarter 2025 is expected to approximate $4.40 per pound, compared with the London Metal Exchange (LME) average quarterly settlement price of $4.24 per pound. FCX expects its average copper selling price to be higher than the LME average because approximately one-third of its consolidated sales are based on U.S. Commodity Exchange Inc. (COMEX) prices.

FCX will release its first-quarter 2025 earnings results before the market opens on Thursday, April 24, 2025, and will hold a conference call to discuss the results at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time that same day.

FREEPORT: Foremost in Copper

FCX is a leading international metals company with the objective of being foremost in copper. Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, FCX operates large, long-lived, geographically diverse assets with significant proven and probable reserves of copper, gold and molybdenum. FCX is one of the world’s largest publicly traded copper producers.

FCX’s portfolio of assets includes the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia, one of the world’s largest copper and gold deposits; and significant operations in North America and South America, including the large-scale Morenci minerals district in Arizona and the Cerro Verde operation in Peru.

By supplying responsibly produced copper, FCX is proud to be a positive contributor to the world well beyond its operational boundaries. Additional information about FCX is available on FCX's website at fcx.com.

Cautionary Statement: This press release contains forward-looking statements in which FCX discusses its potential future performance, operations and projects. Forward-looking statements are all statements other than statements of historical facts, such as plans, projections or expectations relating to production and sales volumes; unit net cash costs; PTFI’s remediation, commissioning, and ramp up of its new smelter and full production at the precious metals refinery; export licenses, export duties and export volumes, including PTFI’s ability to continue exports of copper concentrate until full ramp-up is achieved at its new smelter in Indonesia; timing of shipments of inventoried production and the impact of copper and gold price changes. The words "anticipates," "may," "can," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "projects," "targets," "intends," "likely," "will," "should," "to be," "potential" and any similar expressions are intended to identify those assertions as forward-looking statements.

FCX cautions readers that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated, expected, projected or assumed in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that can cause FCX's actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, supply of and demand for, and prices of the commodities FCX produces, primarily copper and gold; PTFI’s ability to export and sell or inventory copper concentrates through remediation and full ramp-up of its new smelter in Indonesia; changes in export duties; completion of remediation activities and achieving full ramp-up of the new smelter in Indonesia; full production at the PMR; production rates; timing of shipments; and other factors described in more detail under the heading "Risk Factors" in FCX's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Investors are cautioned that many of the assumptions upon which FCX's forward-looking statements are based are likely to change after the date the forward-looking statements are made, including for example commodity prices, which FCX cannot control, and production volumes and costs, some aspects of which FCX may not be able to control. Further, FCX may make changes to its business plans that could affect its results. FCX undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made, notwithstanding any changes in its assumptions, changes in business plans, actual experience or other changes.

The operational estimates in this press release are subject to further changes upon completion of FCX’s normal quarterly closing process and procedures.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250331594244/en/

Contacts

Financial Contact:David P. Joint(504) 582-4203

Media Contact:Linda S. Hayes(602) 366-7824

We recently published a list of Jim Cramer Put These 16 Stocks Under a Microscope. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) stands against other stocks that Jim Cramer put under a microscope.

On Thursday, Jim Cramer, the host of Mad Money, shared his thoughts on the president’s recent stance against the “false free trade era,” expressing his agreement with the shift away from free trade.

“Yes, I’m not a big fan of free trade. Yes, I feel that our country has been abused by our so-called trading partners, especially when it comes to cars. And yes, I favor the 25% tariff on automobile imports. Close watchers of the show know that this is not a new view for me. I’ve seen China devastate entire industries in this country.”

READ ALSO: Jim Cramer Commented on These 8 Stocks Recently and Jim Cramer Discussed These 9 Stocks Recently

Cramer said that America made a “deal with the devil” in the 1990s by allowing the influx of cheap goods from overseas. He noted that while there is nothing inherently wrong with affordable products, the trade-off has been the decimation of American industries and the devastation of factory towns across the country.

Cramer observed that the loss of manufacturing jobs has been a major concern. He noted that while the decision to import cheap goods may have seemed like a good deal at the time, in retrospect, it has led to significant societal and economic damage. He added:

“Now the president has declared that false free trade era is over, and I’m on board with this even as I wish he could lay out a clear plan rather than rolling out the tariffs one by one.”

He emphasized that if America wanted to bring back manufacturing jobs, sacrifices would be required, including the imposition of tariffs. The most important point for Cramer was the acknowledgment that these jobs, along with the many ancillary positions tied to them, had been lost, but there might be a chance for some of them to return.

“Factory jobs may not be as important these days as every other kind of job, frankly but when we look around our country at all these gutted small towns that have led to such despair, such drug use, such homelessness, the bargain for cheap goods, I think it’s a mistake. I’m glad the White House is finally going full speed in the opposite direction. It’s about time.”

Our Methodology

For this article, we compiled a list of 16 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money aired on March 27. We listed the stocks in ascending order of their hedge fund sentiment as of the fourth quarter of 2024, which was taken from Insider Monkey’s database of over 1,000 hedge funds.

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).

Jim Cramer Backs Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX) as Copper Prices Surge – China Comeback in Focus!

A large open-pit copper mine with heavy machinery extracting minerals from the earth.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 88

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) was mentioned during the episode, and here’s what Cramer said:

“Alright, I think copper’s going higher and one of the reasons why I like it, by the way… China’s coming back. They’re the biggest user of copper. But also something that Jensen Huang told me, from Nvidia, he said, listen, copper is just the right thing to have in the data center. I was hoping it’ll be replaced by glass… Two-thirds of the copper is used by China and China’s making a comeback here. At least parts are trying to make it a comeback.”

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) is involved in the extraction of mineral resources across North America, South America, and Indonesia, with a focus on copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and other metals. Appearing on Squawk on the Street last week, Cramer said:

“Freeport, there’s a JPMorgan piece out there upgrading to Overweight. Now what’s important David, let’s say you believe in tariffs. Let’s say that everything is going on and you don’t like the President, or you love the President, doesn’t matter. Freeport could have a 400 to 450 million EBITDA tailwind from tariffs! So let’s say here’s like woohoo tariffs! Go buy some FCX.

And by the way, Jensen Huang is saying that copper is the dominant metal that goes into the data centers. It’s not in the report. The report mostly talks about, yes, Chinese stimulus, cause a lot of the, almost, that’s the majority of copper is used in China. But I really like the call. Stock’s not that expensive. Go buy it… JPMorgan, David. Good as gold. Gold’s a good by product of Freeport. And gold is hitting another high.”

Overall, FCX ranks 4th on our list of stocks that Jim Cramer put under a microscope.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. 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 the 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.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc.'s (NYSE:FCX) investors are due to receive a payment of $0.15 per share on 1st of May. This payment means the dividend yield will be 1.6%, which is below the average for the industry.

Freeport-McMoRan's Future Dividend Projections Appear Well Covered By Earnings

It would be nice for the yield to be higher, but we should also check if higher levels of dividend payment would be sustainable. The last dividend was quite easily covered by Freeport-McMoRan's earnings. This indicates that quite a large proportion of earnings is being invested back into the business.

The next year is set to see EPS grow by 74.9%. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 24%, which is in the range that makes us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend.

NYSE:FCX Historic Dividend March 30th 2025

View our latest analysis for Freeport-McMoRan

Dividend Volatility

Although the company has a long dividend history, it has been cut at least once in the last 10 years. Since 2015, the dividend has gone from $1.25 total annually to $0.60. The dividend has shrunk at around 7.1% a year during that period. Generally, we don't like to see a dividend that has been declining over time as this can degrade shareholders' returns and indicate that the company may be running into problems.

The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow

With a relatively unstable dividend, and a poor history of shrinking dividends, it's even more important to see if EPS is growing. It's encouraging to see that Freeport-McMoRan has been growing its earnings per share at 18% a year over the past five years. The company is paying a reasonable amount of earnings to shareholders, and is growing earnings at a decent rate so we think it could be a decent dividend stock.

We Really Like Freeport-McMoRan's Dividend

Overall, we think that this is a great income investment, and we think that maintaining the dividend this year may have been a conservative choice. Earnings are easily covering distributions, and the company is generating plenty of cash. All of these factors considered, we think this has solid potential as a dividend stock.

Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. Companies that are growing earnings tend to be the best dividend stocks over the long term. See what the 16 analysts we track are forecasting for Freeport-McMoRan for free with public analyst estimates for the company. Looking for more high-yielding dividend ideas? Try our collection of strong dividend payers.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.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.

Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) Full Year 2024 ResultsKey Financial Results

  • Revenue: US$6.61b (up 4.6% from FY 2023).

  • Net income: US$829.4m (flat on FY 2023).

  • Profit margin: 13% (in line with FY 2023).

  • EPS: US$0.84 (down from US$0.85 in FY 2023).

This technology could replace computers: discover the 20 stocks are working to make quantum computing a reality.

ANTO Production and Reserves

Copper

  • Production: 0.277 Mt (0.35 Mt in FY 2023)

  • Proved and probable reserves (ore): 4,377 Mt (3,826 Mt in FY 2023)

  • Number of mines: 4 (4 in FY 2023)

Molybdenum

  • Production: 6,720 t (6,890 t in FY 2023)

  • Proved and probable reserves (ore): 3,182 Mt (2,555 Mt in FY 2023)

  • Number of mines: 2 (2 in FY 2023)

Gold

  • Production: 126.17 troy koz (142.04 troy koz in FY 2023)

  • Proved and probable reserves (ore): 3,182 Mt (2,555 Mt in FY 2023)

  • Number of mines: 2 (2 in FY 2023)

LSE:ANTO Revenue and Expenses Breakdown March 29th 2025

All figures shown in the chart above are for the trailing 12 month (TTM) period

Antofagasta EPS Beats Expectations

Revenue was in line with analyst estimates. Earnings per share (EPS) surpassed analyst estimates by 27%.

The primary driver behind last 12 months revenue was the Mining – Los Pelambres segment contributing a total revenue of US$3.33b (50% of total revenue). Notably, cost of sales worth US$4.11b amounted to 62% of total revenue thereby underscoring the impact on earnings. The most substantial expense, totaling US$789.1m were related to Non-Operating costs. This indicates that a significant portion of the company's costs is related to non-core activities. Explore how ANTO's revenue and expenses shape its earnings.

Looking ahead, revenue is forecast to grow 7.8% p.a. on average during the next 3 years, compared to a 2.0% growth forecast for the Metals and Mining industry in the United Kingdom.

Performance of the British Metals and Mining industry.

The company's shares are down 4.7% from a week ago.

Risk Analysis

We should say that we've discovered 1 warning sign for Antofagasta that you should be aware of before investing here.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.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.

Taking full advantage of the stock market and investing with confidence are common goals for new and old investors alike.

Achieving those goals is made easier with the Zacks Style Scores, a unique set of guidelines that rates stocks based on popular investing methodologies, namely value, growth, and momentum. The Style Scores can help you narrow down which stocks are better for your portfolio and which ones can beat the market over the long-term.

Is This 1 Momentum Stock a Screaming Buy Right Now?

For momentum investors, upward or downward trends in a stock's price or earnings outlook take precedent, so they'll want to zero in on the Momentum Style Score. This Score can pinpoint good times to build a position in a stock, using factors like one-week price change and the monthly percentage change in earnings estimates.

Southern Copper (SCCO)

Phoenix, AZ-based Southern Copper Corporation engages in mining, exploring, smelting, and refining copper and other minerals. The company conducts exploration activities in Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru.

SCCO boasts a Momentum Style Score of A and VGM Score of B, and holds a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) rating. Shares of Southern Copper has seen some interesting price action recently; the stock is down 2.4% over the past one week and up 7% over the past four weeks. And in the last one-year period, SCCO has lost 8.1%. As for the stock's trading volume, 1,811,117.25 shares on average were traded over the last 20 days.

Momentum investors also pay close attention to a company's earnings. For SCCO, two analysts revised their earnings estimate upwards in the last 60 days, and the Zacks Consensus Estimate has increased $0.08 to $4.63 per share for 2025. SCCO boasts an average earnings surprise of 7.9%.

SCCO should be on investors' short list because of its impressive earnings fundamentals, a good Zacks Rank, and strong Momentum and VGM Style Scores.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

Southern Copper Corporation (SCCO) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research

It doesn't matter your age or experience: taking full advantage of the stock market and investing with confidence are common goals for all investors.

Achieving those goals is made easier with the Zacks Style Scores, a unique set of guidelines that rates stocks based on popular investing methodologies, namely value, growth, and momentum. The Style Scores can help you narrow down which stocks are better for your portfolio and which ones can beat the market over the long-term.

Why This 1 Growth Stock Should Be On Your Watchlist

Different than value or momentum investors, growth-oriented investors are concerned with a stock's future prospects, and the overall financial health and strength of a company. Thus, they'll want to focus on the Growth Style Score, which analyzes characteristics like projected and historical earnings, sales, and cash flow to find stocks that will see sustainable growth over time.

Southern Copper (SCCO)

Phoenix, AZ-based Southern Copper Corporation engages in mining, exploring, smelting, and refining copper and other minerals. The company conducts exploration activities in Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru.

SCCO boasts a Growth Style Score of B and VGM Score of B, and holds a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) rating. Its bottom-line is projected to rise 6.9% year-over-year for 2025, while Wall Street anticipates its top line to improve by 2.3%.

Two analysts revised their earnings estimate higher in the last 60 days for fiscal 2025, while the Zacks Consensus Estimate has increased $0.08 to $4.63 per share. SCCO also boasts an average earnings surprise of 7.9%.

Looking at cash flow, Southern Copper is expected to report cash flow growth of 29.6% this year; SCCO has generated cash flow growth of 13.4% over the past three to five years.

SCCO should be on investors' short lists because of its impressive growth fundamentals, a good Zacks Rank, and strong Growth and VGM Style Scores.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

Southern Copper Corporation (SCCO) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research

Southern Copper (SCCO) closed the most recent trading day at $96.84, moving -0.88% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.33% loss on the day. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.37%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.53%.

Heading into today, shares of the miner had gained 4.77% over the past month, outpacing the Basic Materials sector's gain of 0.7% and the S&P 500's loss of 4.03% in that time.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Southern Copper in its upcoming earnings disclosure. In that report, analysts expect Southern Copper to post earnings of $1.05 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 11.7%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $2.79 billion, up 7.48% from the year-ago period.

For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $4.63 per share and a revenue of $11.7 billion, signifying shifts of +6.93% and +2.31%, respectively, from the last year.

Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for Southern Copper. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.22% higher. Currently, Southern Copper is carrying a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Southern Copper has a Forward P/E ratio of 21.11 right now. This indicates a premium in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 19.72.

It's also important to note that SCCO currently trades at a PEG ratio of 1.91. The PEG ratio bears resemblance to the frequently used P/E ratio, but this parameter also includes the company's expected earnings growth trajectory. As the market closed yesterday, the Mining – Non Ferrous industry was having an average PEG ratio of 0.85.

The Mining – Non Ferrous industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 206, finds itself in the bottom 18% echelons of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual 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.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

Southern Copper Corporation (SCCO) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research

We recently published a list of Jim Cramer Discusses These 10 Stocks & Says “Traders Are Dumb As Wood.” In this article, we are going to take a look at where Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) stands against other stocks that Jim Cramer discussed.

In his latest appearance on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, Jim Cramer commented on the response by markets to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s comments that the inflationary effects of tariffs could be transitory. Higher inflation from tariffs had led investors to worry that the Fed might raise interest rates. However, Powell’s language assuaged these customers. Commenting on Powell and the markets, Cramer commented:

“People at home have to recognize David that there are two markets. There’s the very considered market, that was in keeping with the considered Fed reserve chief, and that’s what we have after two o’ clock. And then there’s the wild night time market where you come in and everything has just been divorced from what you heard the day before. It must be very confusing for people to say, oh my, what happened, seems like there’s a wholesale reconfiguration, a reset so to speak. But it’s all nonsense. What you see on the screen is worthless. No longer do these futures have any sort of correlation with what happened even last night. Now some of that could be because we have a new President. Some of it could just be that there’s lunacy and people who are not manipulating but making ill-advised trades long before the market opens. You’re seeing the 24 hour market, David. The problem is, in keeping with the fact that I’m at [a home improvement retailer], the traders are dumb as wood.”

Another investor concern and one that’s gone unnoticed amidst the debate surrounding tariffs and last week’s massive selloff is weakening customer sentiment. Cramer also commented on these worries and bank CEO Jamie Dimon’s thoughts on the matter:

“I think March is weak, I think the consumer is spending less. I agree with Jamie Dimon. . .Look I think that there’s genuine weakness in the endless talk about tariffs is soon going to make it so that it’s too boring to listen to us. Everyone is concerned about tariffs. People are asking about whether it’s reciprocal or protective. I mean, once again I hear, is it Hamilton or McKinley? I mean let’s stop it. No one even knows those guys anymore. What bill is McKinley on? But I will say that it is worrisome to people, so therefore they sell, soon as they hear tariffs, they get nervous.”

Our Methodology

To make our list of the stocks that Jim Cramer talked about, we listed down the stocks he mentioned during CNBC’s Squawk on the Street aired on March 20th.

For these stocks, we also mentioned the number of hedge fund investors. 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).

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q4 2024: 88

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) is a mining company that deals with materials such as gold and copper. The firm’s shares are up by 7.4% year-to-date and have lost 11.5% over the past year. 2025’s gains have come on the back of an 18% jump in March. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX)’s shares have benefited from the beneficial impact of tariffs on the firm. Cramer also believes this to be the case as he commented:

“Freeport, there’s a JPMorgan piece out there upgrading to Overweight. Now what’s important David, let’s say you believe in tariffs. Let’s say that everything is going on and you don’t like the President, or you love the President, doesn’t matter. Freeport could have a 400 to 450 million EBITDA tailwind from tariffs! So let’s say here’s like woohoo tariffs! Go buy some FCX. And by the way, Jensen Huang is saying that copper is the dominant metal that goes into the data centers. It’s not in the report. The report mostly talks about, yes, Chinese stimulus, cause a lot of the, almost, that’s the majority of copper is used in China. But I really like the call. Stock’s not that expensive. Go buy it.”

“JPMorgan, David. Good as gold. Gold’s a good by product of Freeport. And gold is hitting another high.”

Overall, FCX ranks 3rd on our list of stocks that Jim Cramer 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. 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 the 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.

PHOENIX, March 26, 2025–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Freeport (NYSE: FCX) announced today that its Board of Directors declared cash dividends of $0.15 per share on FCX’s common stock payable on May 1, 2025, to shareholders of record as of April 15, 2025. The declaration includes a base dividend of $0.075 per share and variable dividend of $0.075 per share in accordance with FCX's performance-based payout framework. The payment of dividends is at the discretion of the Board, which will consider FCX's financial results, cash requirements, global economic conditions and other factors it deems relevant.

FREEPORT: Foremost in Copper

FCX is a leading international metals company with the objective of being foremost in copper. Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, FCX operates large, long-lived, geographically diverse assets with significant proven and probable reserves of copper, gold and molybdenum. FCX is one of the world’s largest publicly traded copper producers.

FCX’s portfolio of assets includes the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia, one of the world’s largest copper and gold deposits; and significant operations in North America and South America, including the large-scale Morenci minerals district in Arizona and the Cerro Verde operation in Peru.

By supplying responsibly produced copper, FCX is proud to be a positive contributor to the world well beyond its operational boundaries. Additional information about FCX is available on FCX's website at fcx.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250325123857/en/

Contacts

Financial Contact:David P. Joint(504) 582-4203Media Contact:Linda S. Hayes(602) 366-7824

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – March 26, 2025 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: BHP Group (BHP), Southern Copper SCCO, Freeport-McMoRan Inc. FCX, Teck Resources TECK and Amerigo Resources ARREF.

Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:

5 Stocks to Keep an Eye On as Copper Prices Approach Record Highs

Copper prices have trended above $5.00 per pound since last week, a level last seen in May 2024. Copper futures for May delivery closed at $5.09 yesterday after hitting a high of $5.18. Prices are being driven by concerns over U.S. tariffs and stimulus measures in China. The metal has had a good run so far this year, notching a gain of 27.9%. It remains to be seen whether the commodity can break its record high of $5.199 per pound set on May 20, 2024.

Amid this strong momentum in copper prices, investors may consider companies like BHP Group, Southern Copper, Freeport-McMoRan Inc., Teck Resources and Amerigo Resources, which are expected to benefit from this rally. Their growth plans make them attractive investment options.

Factors Driving Copper Prices

Tariff Concerns: U.S. President Trump signed an executive order last month to investigate copper imports, citing national security risks from the growing reliance on foreign sources. This has fueled speculation about a 25% tariff. This, in turn, triggered a preemptive scramble among traders to pay higher premiums and expedite shipments to the United States. This rush has tightened supply elsewhere, leading to a spike in prices.

Supply Constraints: The copper market is grappling with inherent supply constraints from prolonged underinvestment in new mining projects and limitations in refining capacity. The extended lead times involved in bringing new mines online, along with the capital-intensive nature of such projects, have resulted in a notable shortage of upcoming copper supply. While demand has been strong, there will be an eventual deficit in metal supply, leading to a situation that will bolster metal prices.

Electrification & Technological Demand: The surging demand for electric vehicles is expected to be a significant growth driver for copper. Moreover, the transition to renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, necessitates substantial copper usage. Artificial intelligence (AI), requiring extensive data centers and high-performance computing infrastructure, is another major consumer of copper.

China's Economic Recovery: China's GDP grew by a seasonally adjusted 1.6% in the fourth quarter of 2024, higher than the 1.3% for the third quarter. It marked the strongest quarterly increase since the first quarter of 2023. China's GDP growth target has been set at 4.6% for 2025. China's government is implementing stimulus measures to boost domestic consumption and support the economy. This is expected to boost copper demand.

Copper's Long-Term View Intact

The long-term outlook for copper remains strong, driven by consistent growth in traditional sectors like construction and manufacturing, energy transition (renewables and electric vehicles) and the rise of digital technologies (AI and data centers). Given the supply limitations, this demand surge is expected to push prices higher.

5 Copper Stocks to Watch

We suggest investors keep an eye on these five copper-mining stocks that we have handpicked. These stocks have a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) and have outperformed the S&P 500's decline of 2.3%. This is shown in the chart below.

These stocks are anticipated to carry the momentum forward, backed by their earnings growth projections.

You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

BHP Group: The company expects copper production of 1,845-2,045 kt in fiscal 2025, following a 15-year high production of 1,865 kt in fiscal 2024. In Chile, the company has seven key projects, which can grow copper production to average 1.4 Mtpa through the 2030s. BHP is investing in its 100% owned Copper South Australia asset, focusing on all three operations.

The company recently announced smelter and refinery expansion at Olympic Dam, which is expected to take BHP's copper production in South Australia from 322,000 tons in fiscal 2024 to more than 500,000 tons by early 2030s and 650,000 tons by mid-2030s. BHP and Lundin Mining recently completed the acquisition of Filo Corp and formed a joint venture, Vicuña Corp., to hold the Filo del Sol and Josemaria copper projects. This will help advance one of the most significant copper discoveries globally in recent decades.

BHP also has a 45% interest in the Resolution Copper Project in the United States, one of the largest undeveloped copper projects in the world. BHP expects these projects to deliver more than 2 Mtpa of attributable copper production by the mid-2030s. Efforts to make operations more efficient by adopting technology will continue to aid in reducing costs. BHP's focus on lowering debt is also commendable.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BHP's fiscal 2025 earnings suggests year-over-year growth of 3.6%. The estimate has moved up 0.5% in the past 30 days. The stock has gained 1% year to date.

Southern Copper: The company has the largest copper reserve in the industry and operates world-class assets in investment-grade countries, such as Mexico and Peru. SCCO expects copper production of 967,000 tons for 2025, suggesting no change from that registered in 2024. This will be supported by higher production in Peru and production from the new Buenavista zinc concentrator.

The company's capital investment program for this decade exceeds $15 billion and includes investments at the Buenavista Zinc, Pilares, El Pilar and El Arco projects in Mexico, and the Tia Maria, Los Chancas and Michiquillay projects in Peru.

SCCO continues to build its presence in Peru, as the country is the second-largest producer of copper. Southern Copper's Michiquillay is expected to become one of Peru's largest copper mines and will produce 225,000 tons of copper per year (along with by-products of molybdenum, gold and silver) for an expected mine life of more than 25 years. Production is scheduled to start by 2032. Given its constant commitment to increasing low-cost production and growth investments, SCCO is well-poised to continue delivering an enhanced performance.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the Phoenix, AZ-based company's fiscal 2025 earnings indicates year-over-year growth of 6.9%. The estimate has moved up 1.3% over the past 30 days. SCCO has a long-term estimated earnings growth rate of 11%. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 7.9%, on average. SCCO shares have gained 9.3% so far this year.

Freeport-McMoRan: The company's strategy to expand reserves through exploration near existing mines is expected to fuel growth. FCX is implementing the latest technologies and data analytics in leaching processes across its North America and South America operations. The leach initiative provided an approximate 50% increase in incremental copper in 2024 compared with 2023 in North America.

FCX is targeting an annual run rate of 300 million pounds by this year-end and a long-term target of 800 million pounds by 2030. Freeport has a policy of distributing 50% of the available cash flows to shareholders and the balance to reduce debt and make investments in growth projects.

Its organic project pipeline containing Kucing Liar/Grasberg District, Bagdad 2X, El Abra expansion and Lone Star sulfide expansions remains strong. Kucing Liar expansion has an expected production of 7 billion pounds of copper through 2041. The Baghdad expansion is expected to add incremental production of 200-250 million pounds of copper annually. El Abra expansion with a potential start-up in 2033 is expected to add 750 million pounds of copper per year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for FCX's earnings for fiscal 2025 indicates year-over-year growth of 10.1%. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 15.2%, on average. It has a long-term estimated earnings growth rate of 26.6%. The Phoenix, AZ-based company has gained 9.3% year to date.

Teck Resources: The company's copper production was 446,000 tons in 2024, which marked a 50.7% year-over-year increase due to the ramp-up of QB, which achieved design throughput rates by the end of the year. The same for 2025 is projected at 490,000-565,000 tons, reflecting the ramp-up at QB, and higher production at Highland Valley Copper and Carmen de Andacollo. Highland Valley Copper production is expected to increase significantly in 2025 as mining continues in the Lornex pit, releasing ore that is both higher grade (more metal) and softer (higher mill throughput). The sanction decision for the Zafranal copper-gold project is expected in late 2025.

Zafranal has an expected mine life of 19 years and will produce copper-gold concentrates through an open-pit mining and conventional concentration process. The mine and concentrator are expected to produce an average of 126,000 tons of copper contained in the concentrate during its first five years of production.

Also, the Highland Valley Mine Life Extension is expected to add 17 years to the mine's life. The San Nicolas project's annual estimated production (on a 100% basis) is 63,000 tons of copper and 147,000 tons of zinc in the first five years. The feasibility study and execution strategy are progressing toward a potential sanction decision in the second half of this year. The company expects to increase copper production to 800,000 tons before the end of this decade.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Vancouver, Canada-based Teck Resources' 2025 earnings suggests a year-over-year upsurge of 78%. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 18.4%, on average. It has a long-term estimated earnings growth rate of 51.8%. The TECK stock has gained 3.4% year to date.

Amerigo Resources: In 2024, the MVC operations produced 64.6 million pounds of copper, delivering a 12% year-over-year improvement and 4% growth from ARREF's guidance. Copper deliveries reached a record 65 million pounds. Net income for 2024 was $19.2 million, a solid improvement from $3.4 million in 2023. For 2025, Amerigo projects production of 62.9 million pounds of copper and 1.3 million pounds of molybdenum, marking the fifth year of increased production guidance.

Backed by its healthy cash balances, minimal debt and robust financial performance, the company continues its capital return strategy that was initiated in September 2021. In 2024, Amerigo returned $21.2 million to shareholders (including both quarterly and performance dividends). Notably, this was the first year the company employed all the elements of the strategy — quarterly dividends, performance dividends and share buybacks. ARREF is planning to end 2025 with a debt-free balance sheet.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Vancouver, Canada-based Amerigo Resources' earnings for 2025 indicates a year-over-year surge of 75%. The estimate has been unchanged over the past 30 days. ARREF has a long-term estimated earnings growth rate of 20%. The stock has gained 24.4% year to date.

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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

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Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Southern Copper Corporation (SCCO) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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Teck Resources Ltd (TECK) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research

Freeport-McMoRan recently affirmed a cash dividend of $0.15 per share, which may have played a role in its share price increase of 16% over the past month. This dividend announcement, with its structured payout comprising both a base and a performance-based variable component, coincided with a broader market characterized by declines in major technology stocks and a generally volatile landscape. While the tech sector saw a notable downturn, FCX's strong movement suggests investor confidence in its financial decisions, supported by positive dividend structuring amid ongoing market fluctuations.

Buy, Hold or Sell Freeport-McMoRan? View our complete analysis and fair value estimate and you decide.

NYSE:FCX Earnings Per Share Growth as at Mar 2025

Uncover the next big thing with financially sound penny stocks that balance risk and reward.

Freeport-McMoRan's shares have shown a very large total return over the last five years, reflecting both share price appreciation and dividends. This period was characterized by several key developments, including technological advancements such as the October 2023 collaboration with Caterpillar to convert its Bagdad mine trucks to an autonomous haulage system. This move aimed at increasing operational efficiency. The announcement of the critical mineral classification for copper, potentially providing a 10% tax credit, could also support cost savings and revenue stability.

Moreover, executive leadership changes, like Kathleen L. Quirk's appointment as CEO in June 2024, indicate steady leadership focused on navigating challenges, including geopolitical tensions and fluctuating metal production levels. Despite these challenges, Freeport-McMoRan's earnings growth in the past year outpaced the Metals and Mining industry, demonstrating resilience even as it underperformed both the market and its industry over the last year. Such developments have shaped the company's substantial returns over the past five years.

Evaluate Freeport-McMoRan's historical performance by accessing our past performance report.

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 NYSE:FCX.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com

We recently published a list of Pulse of The Market: Tuesday’s 10 Top Performers. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Freeport-McMoran Inc. (NYSE:FCX) stands against other Tuesday’s top performers.

A lackluster trading persisted on the stock market on Tuesday, with all major indices finishing in the green territory, but eked out only slight gains.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq rallied the most, up 0.46 percent, followed by the S&P 500 with 0.16 percent, and the Dow Jones with a marginal 0.01 percent.

Despite the muted trading, investors poured funds into several companies, pushing their prices to achieve modest gains. In this article, we listed the 10 top performers today and detailed the reasons behind their gains.

To come up with the list, we considered only the stocks with a $2 billion market capitalization and $5 million in trading volume.

Why Freeport-McMoran Inc. (FCX) Went Up On Tuesday?

A large open-pit copper mine with heavy machinery extracting minerals from the earth.

Freeport-McMoran Inc. (NYSE:FCX)

Freeport-McMoran rose for a second day on Tuesday, adding 3.36 percent to end at $43.01 as investors resorted to bargain-hunting to take advantage of its cheap valuation while trading in line with higher copper prices.

According to analysts, FCX’s current valuation indicates that it is currently undervalued.

FCX is a US-based mining company based in Phoenix, Arizona, and is currently the world’s largest producer of molybdenum.

Earlier this month, it said that it was hoping President Donald Trump to declare copper a critical mineral, a move that would unlock tax credits to bolster production of the red metal in the US and offset global counterparts.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, FCX saw adjusted net income increase by 14 percent to $450 million from $393 million in the same period a year earlier.

However, adjusted net profit for the full-year period declined by 3.3 percent to $2.146 billion from $2.221 billion in 2023.

Overall, FCX ranks 9th on our list of Tuesday’s top performers. 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. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as FCX but trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the 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.

Copper prices have trended above $5.00 per pound since last week, a level last seen in May 2024. Copper futures for May delivery closed at $5.09 yesterday after hitting a high of $5.18. Prices are being driven by concerns over U.S. tariffs and stimulus measures in China. The metal has had a good run so far this year, notching a gain of 27.9%. It remains to be seen whether the commodity can break its record high of $5.199 per pound set on May 20, 2024.Amid this strong momentum in copper prices, investors may consider companies like BHP Group BHP, Southern Copper SCCO, Freeport-McMoRan Inc. FCX, Teck Resources TECK and Amerigo Resources ARREF, which are expected to benefit from this rally. Their growth plans make them attractive investment options.

Factors Driving Copper Prices

Tariff Concerns: U.S. President Trump signed an executive order last month to investigate copper imports, citing national security risks from the growing reliance on foreign sources. This has fueled speculation about a 25% tariff. This, in turn, triggered a preemptive scramble among traders to pay higher premiums and expedite shipments to the United States. This rush has tightened supply elsewhere, leading to a spike in prices.

Supply Constraints: The copper market is grappling with inherent supply constraints from prolonged underinvestment in new mining projects and limitations in refining capacity. The extended lead times involved in bringing new mines online, along with the capital-intensive nature of such projects, have resulted in a notable shortage of upcoming copper supply. While demand has been strong, there will be an eventual deficit in metal supply, leading to a situation that will bolster metal prices.

Electrification & Technological Demand: The surging demand for electric vehicles is expected to be a significant growth driver for copper. Moreover, the transition to renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, necessitates substantial copper usage. Artificial intelligence (AI), requiring extensive data centers and high-performance computing infrastructure, is another major consumer of copper.

China's Economic Recovery: China’s GDP grew by a seasonally adjusted 1.6% in the fourth quarter of 2024, higher than the 1.3% for the third quarter. It marked the strongest quarterly increase since the first quarter of 2023. China’s GDP growth target has been set at 4.6% for 2025. China’s government is implementing stimulus measures to boost domestic consumption and support the economy. This is expected to boost copper demand.

Copper’s Long-Term View Intact

The long-term outlook for copper remains strong, driven by consistent growth in traditional sectors like construction and manufacturing, energy transition (renewables and electric vehicles) and the rise of digital technologies (AI and data centers). Given the supply limitations, this demand surge is expected to push prices higher.

5 Copper Stocks to Watch

We suggest investors keep an eye on these five copper-mining stocks that we have handpicked. These stocks have a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) and have outperformed the S&P 500’s decline of 2.3%. This is shown in the chart below.

These stocks are anticipated to carry the momentum forward, backed by their earnings growth projections.

 

Zacks Investment Research

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

 

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.BHP Group: The company expects copper production of 1,845-2,045 kt in fiscal 2025, following a 15-year high production of 1,865 kt in fiscal 2024. In Chile, the company has seven key projects, which can grow copper production to average 1.4 Mtpa through the 2030s. BHP is investing in its 100% owned Copper South Australia asset, focusing on all three operations.The company recently announced smelter and refinery expansion at Olympic Dam, which is expected to take BHP’s copper production in South Australia from 322,000 tons in fiscal 2024 to more than 500,000 tons by early 2030s and 650,000 tons by mid-2030s. BHP and Lundin Mining recently completed the acquisition of Filo Corp and formed a joint venture, Vicuña Corp., to hold the Filo del Sol and Josemaria copper projects. This will help advance one of the most significant copper discoveries globally in recent decades.BHP also has a 45% interest in the Resolution Copper Project in the United States, one of the largest undeveloped copper projects in the world. BHP expects these projects to deliver more than 2 Mtpa of attributable copper production by the mid-2030s. Efforts to make operations more efficient by adopting technology will continue to aid in reducing costs. BHP’s focus on lowering debt is also commendable.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BHP’s fiscal 2025 earnings suggests year-over-year growth of 3.6%. The estimate has moved up 0.5% in the past 30 days. The stock has gained 1% year to date.

Southern Copper: The company has the largest copper reserve in the industry and operates world-class assets in investment-grade countries, such as Mexico and Peru. SCCO expects copper production of 967,000 tons for 2025, suggesting no change from that registered in 2024. This will be supported by higher production in Peru and production from the new Buenavista zinc concentrator.

The company’s capital investment program for this decade exceeds $15 billion and includes investments at the Buenavista Zinc, Pilares, El Pilar and El Arco projects in Mexico, and the Tia Maria, Los Chancas and Michiquillay projects in Peru.

SCCO continues to build its presence in Peru, as the country is the second-largest producer of copper. Southern Copper’s Michiquillay is expected to become one of Peru's largest copper mines and will produce 225,000 tons of copper per year (along with by-products of molybdenum, gold and silver) for an expected mine life of more than 25 years. Production is scheduled to start by 2032. Given its constant commitment to increasing low-cost production and growth investments, SCCO is well-poised to continue delivering an enhanced performance.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the Phoenix, AZ-based company’s fiscal 2025 earnings indicates year-over-year growth of 6.9%. The estimate has moved up 1.3% over the past 30 days. SCCO has a long-term estimated earnings growth rate of 11%. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 7.9%, on average. SCCO shares have gained 9.3% so far this year.

Freeport-McMoRan: The company's strategy to expand reserves through exploration near existing mines is expected to fuel growth. FCX is implementing the latest technologies and data analytics in leaching processes across its North America and South America operations. The leach initiative provided an approximate 50% increase in incremental copper in 2024 compared with 2023 in North America.

FCX is targeting an annual run rate of 300 million pounds by this year-end and a long-term target of 800 million pounds by 2030. Freeport has a policy of distributing 50% of the available cash flows to shareholders and the balance to reduce debt and make investments in growth projects.

Its organic project pipeline containing Kucing Liar/Grasberg District, Bagdad 2X, El Abra expansion and Lone Star sulfide expansions remains strong. Kucing Liar expansion has an expected production of 7 billion pounds of copper through 2041. The Baghdad expansion is expected to add incremental production of 200-250 million pounds of copper annually. El Abra expansion with a potential start-up in 2033 is expected to add 750 million pounds of copper per year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for FCX’s earnings for fiscal 2025 indicates year-over-year growth of 10.1%. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 15.2%, on average. It has a long-term estimated earnings growth rate of 26.6%. The Phoenix, AZ-based company has gained 9.3% year to date.

Teck Resources: The company’s copper production was 446,000 tons in 2024, which marked a 50.7% year-over-year increase due to the ramp-up of QB, which achieved design throughput rates by the end of the year. The same for 2025 is projected at 490,000-565,000 tons, reflecting the ramp-up at QB, and higher production at Highland Valley Copper and Carmen de Andacollo. Highland Valley Copper production is expected to increase significantly in 2025 as mining continues in the Lornex pit, releasing ore that is both higher grade (more metal) and softer (higher mill throughput). The sanction decision for the Zafranal copper-gold project is expected in late 2025.

Zafranal has an expected mine life of 19 years and will produce copper-gold concentrates through an open-pit mining and conventional concentration process. The mine and concentrator are expected to produce an average of 126,000 tons of copper contained in the concentrate during its first five years of production.

Also, the Highland Valley Mine Life Extension is expected to add 17 years to the mine’s life. The San Nicolas project’s annual estimated production (on a 100% basis) is 63,000 tons of copper and 147,000 tons of zinc in the first five years. The feasibility study and execution strategy are progressing toward a potential sanction decision in the second half of this year. The company expects to increase copper production to 800,000 tons before the end of this decade.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Vancouver, Canada-based Teck Resources’ 2025 earnings suggests a year-over-year upsurge of 78%. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 18.4%, on average. It has a long-term estimated earnings growth rate of 51.8%. The TECK stock has gained 3.4% year to date.

Amerigo Resources: In 2024, the MVC operations produced 64.6 million pounds of copper, delivering a 12% year-over-year improvement and 4% growth from ARREF’s guidance. Copper deliveries reached a record 65 million pounds. Net income for 2024 was $19.2 million, a solid improvement from $3.4 million in 2023. For 2025, Amerigo projects production of 62.9 million pounds of copper and 1.3 million pounds of molybdenum, marking the fifth year of increased production guidance.

Backed by its healthy cash balances, minimal debt and robust financial performance, the company continues its capital return strategy that was initiated in September 2021. In 2024, Amerigo returned $21.2 million to shareholders (including both quarterly and performance dividends). Notably, this was the first year the company employed all the elements of the strategy — quarterly dividends, performance dividends and share buybacks. ARREF is planning to end 2025 with a debt-free balance sheet.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Vancouver, Canada-based Amerigo Resources’ earnings for 2025 indicates a year-over-year surge of 75%. The estimate has been unchanged over the past 30 days. ARREF has a long-term estimated earnings growth rate of 20%. The stock has gained 24.4% year to date.

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Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX) : Free Stock Analysis Report

BHP Group Limited Sponsored ADR (BHP) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Southern Copper Corporation (SCCO) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Amerigo Resources Ltd. (ARREF) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Teck Resources Ltd (TECK) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research

We recently published a list of 12 Best Global ETFs to Buy. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Global X Copper Miners ETF (NYSE:COPX) stands against other best global ETFs.

The ETF industry experienced remarkable growth in 2024, with global assets under management (AUM) reaching $14.8 trillion by the fourth quarter. While strong equity market performance contributed to this increase, record-breaking net inflows of $1.88 trillion were the primary driver. This growth was fueled by innovation from ETF and ETP providers, along with increasing investor adoption across different markets, investment styles, and investor types. The factors that have supported the industry’s expansion over the past 30 years, such as transparency, competitive fees, liquidity, and tax benefits in regions like the US, Ireland, and Luxembourg, continue to attract capital.

Europe played a significant role in ETF growth, with AUM nearing $2.3 trillion by the end of 2024, boosted by the rise of online retail savings accounts, as reported by Ernst & Young. European ETFs expanded at a faster pace than the US market, reflecting their smaller share of registered funds at around 12% compared to approximately 25% in the US. The United States remained a major force in global ETF growth, surpassing $10 trillion in AUM by year-end. Other key markets, including Canada, Japan, Australia, Korea, and Taiwan, also saw steady expansion. Active ETFs were largely popular, accounting for a growing share of the European ETF market and representing 8% of US ETF AUM. In the US, active ETFs drove nearly half of all net inflows in 2024.

Institutions heavily sold equities toward the end of 2024, while capital continued to flow into index funds, ETFs, and passive investment strategies. In December, institutional investors sold a net $50.2 billion in equities, a nearly 50% increase from November, making it the highest monthly sell-off of the year, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Thomas McNamara, director of issuer solutions at S&P Global Market Intelligence, commented:

“This selling activity intensified toward the year's end, highlighting 2024 as a pivotal year for index investing. As stock pickers continued to reduce their allocations to individual securities, the post-election market rally provided further motivation for broad-based investment strategies.”

At the same time, index funds and ETFs remained net buyers, purchasing $25.89 billion in stocks in December 2024. Though lower than November’s $43.21 billion, the figure remained close to the 12-month average of $24.44 billion. Going into 2025, institutional selling is expected to persist, while index funds and ETFs are likely to continue buying. A shift back to active institutional management appears unlikely unless market conditions change.

Noel Archard, Global Head of ETFs and Portfolio Solutions at AllianceBernstein, highlighted key trends shaping the ETF market in 2025. Growth is accelerating worldwide, with the US active ETF market expected to surpass $3 trillion in the next three years. Investors are increasingly using ETFs for both strategic and tactical portfolio adjustments, particularly in response to market shifts. Active ETFs are a major driver of this growth, expanding beyond fixed-income products into equities, enhanced income strategies, and alternative investments. Regulatory changes in markets are also facilitating their adoption. Meanwhile, passive ETFs continue to grow steadily, having long been a dominant force in the industry. The removal of barriers in certain markets is expected to unlock further demand for active ETFs. Additionally, the rising adoption of model portfolios reinforces ETFs, both active and passive, as efficient investment tools, because investors recognize their advantages over mutual funds and separately managed accounts.

Global X Copper Miners ETF (COPX): Among The Best Global ETFs To Buy

A large open-pit mining site, its machinery providing a long-term supply of copper.

Our Methodology

We curated our list of the best global ETFs by choosing consensus picks from multiple credible websites. These funds offer exposure to a basket of global/international stocks. We have mentioned the 5-year share price performance of each ETF as of March 21, 2025, ranking the list in ascending order of the share price performance. Additionally, we discuss the top holdings of these ETFs to give investors deeper insights. Hedge fund sentiment from Insider Monkey’s Q4 2024 database for each holding is also included.

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).

Global X Copper Miners ETF (NYSE:COPX)

5-Year Share Price Performance as of March 21: 307.93%

Global X Copper Miners ETF (NYSE:COPX) gives investors exposure to a diverse range of copper mining firms. It aims to deliver investment results that follow the performance of the Solactive Global Copper Miners Total Return Index. Established on April 19, 2010, the fund has net assets of $2.9 billion as of March 19, 2025, and its portfolio includes 39 stocks. Global X Copper Miners ETF (NYSE:COPX) offers an expense ratio of 0.65%.

Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO) is among the top holdings of the Global X Copper Miners ETF (NYSE:COPX). The company is involved in the mining, exploration, smelting, and refining of copper and other minerals across Peru, Argentina, Chile Mexico, and Ecuador. On March 13, UBS analyst Myles Allsop raised Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO)’s rating from Neutral to Buy, while setting a price target of $120. His positive outlook is based on expectations of a copper market deficit driving prices higher and projected volume growth from the SCCO’s Tia Maria project, which could contribute around 10% growth over the next few years.

According to Insider Monkey’s Q4 database, 33 hedge funds were bullish on Southern Copper Corporation (NYSE:SCCO), an increase from 25 funds in the preceding quarter. Fisher Asset Management held the biggest position in the company, with 2.9 million shares worth over $268.2 million.

Overall, COPX ranks 1st on our list of the best global ETFs. While we acknowledge the potential of COPX to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that certain AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than COPX but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the 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.

Southern Copper (SCCO) closed the most recent trading day at $98.80, moving +0.94% from the previous trading session. The stock's change was more than the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.07%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw a downswing of 0.62%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq depreciated by 1.71%.

The the stock of miner has risen by 0.63% in the past month, leading the Basic Materials sector's loss of 0.56% and the S&P 500's loss of 7.03%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Southern Copper in its upcoming release. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $1.05, indicating a 11.7% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $2.79 billion, up 7.48% from the year-ago period.

For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $4.74 per share and a revenue of $11.8 billion, signifying shifts of +9.47% and +3.22%, respectively, from the last year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Southern Copper. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.76% higher. Southern Copper is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Looking at valuation, Southern Copper is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 20.63. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 18.56, which means Southern Copper is trading at a premium to the group.

We can also see that SCCO currently has a PEG ratio of 1.87. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. Mining – Non Ferrous stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 0.86 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Mining – Non Ferrous industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 183, which puts it in the bottom 28% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.

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Southern Copper Corporation (SCCO) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research

Ero Copper ERO reported fourth-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings per share of 17 cents, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 21 cents. The bottom line declined 19% year over year.Stay up-to-date with all quarterly releases: See Zacks Earnings Calendar.Including one-time items, ERO reported a loss of 47 cents per share in the fourth quarter of 2024 against earnings of 37 cents in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Ero Copper Corp. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

 

Ero Copper Corp. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Ero Copper Corp. Quote

Ero Copper’s Margins Improve Y/Y in Q4

ERO’s revenues were $122.5 million in the quarter under review, up 5.2% from the year-ago quarter. The top line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $130 million.Copper C1 cash costs for the quarter were $1.85 in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared with $1.75 in the fourth quarter of 2023. Gold C1 cash costs for the fourth quarter of 2024 were $744 compared with $413 in the year-ago quarter. All-in Sustaining Costs (AISC) for the same period were $1,691 compared with $991 in the fourth quarter of 2023.Gross profit rose 25.3% year over year to $52.4 million. ERO’s adjusted EBITDA improved 17.5% year over year to $59 million in the fourth quarter of 2024. The adjusted EBITDA margin was 48.2% compared with 43.2% in the year-ago quarter.

ERO’s Production Details

Ero Copper produced 8,566 tons of copper in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared to the prior-year quarter’s 11,760 tons. Copper production was 35,444 tons in 2024, down 19.2% from 2023. Gold production was 8,936 ounces in the fourth quarter, resulting in a production of 59,222 ounces in 2024. The company produced 16,867 ounces of gold in the fourth quarter of 2023 and 59,222 ounces in 2023.

Ero Copper’s 2024 Results

ERO reported adjusted earnings per share of 78 cents, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 86 cents. Earnings declined 10% year over year.Including one-time items, the company reported a loss of 66 cents per share in 2024 against earnings of 98 cents in 2023.ERO Copper’s revenues grew 10% year over year to $430 million in 2024, missing the consensus estimate of $464 million.

ERO’s Cash Position

Ero Copper’s available liquidity at 2024-end was $90 million, including cash and cash equivalents of $50 million, and $15 million of undrawn availability under the company's senior secured revolving credit facility. The company’s cash and cash equivalents figure decreased from $111.7 million in 2023.The company generated $145 million from cash flow in operating activities compared with the $163 million reported last year.

Ero Copper’s Guidance for 2025

In 2025, the company expects consolidated copper production between 75,000 tons and 85,000 tons in concentrate. Gold production from Xavantina operations is projected to be 50,000-60,000 ounces.Copper C1 cash cost guidance on a consolidated basis is expected between $1.55 and $1.80 for the year. At the Xavantina Operations, the gold C1 cash costs are expected between $650 and $800, reflecting a planned decrease in mined and processed gold grade. The company has set a gold AISC guidance between $1,400 and $1,600.

ERO Stock’s Price Performance

Shares of Ero Copper have lost 25.4% in a year against the industry’s 3% growth.

 

Zacks Investment Research

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

 ERO Copper’s Peer Performances

Southern Copper Corporation SCCO reported fourth-quarter 2024 earnings of $1.01 per share, which marginally missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.02. The bottom line, however, marked a 74% surge from the year-ago quarter. Results were driven by higher sales volumes for copper, zinc and silver, and improved prices. SCCO registered revenues of $2.784 billion, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.780 billion. The top line increased 21.3% year over year.Freeport-McMoRan Inc. FCX recorded net income of $274 million or 19 cents per share for fourth-quarter 2024, down 29.3% from $388 million or 27 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.FCX’s revenues declined 3.1% year over year to $5.72 billion. The figure missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.92 billion. The company witnessed lower copper sales in the reported quarter.

ERO’s Zacks Rank & Stock to Consider

Ero Copper currently carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).A better-ranked stock from the basic materials space is Carpenter Technology Corporation CRS. It sports a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.Carpenter Technology has an average trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 15.7%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CRS’s 2025 earnings is pegged at $6.95 per share. CRS shares gained 219.3% last year.

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Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Carpenter Technology Corporation (CRS) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Southern Copper Corporation (SCCO) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Ero Copper Corp. (ERO) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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