In the latest trading session, Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) closed at $36.53, marking a +0.08% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.35% gain on the day.

Coming into today, shares of the mining company had lost 10.65% in the past month. In that same time, the Basic Materials sector lost 1%, while the S&P 500 gained 3.64%.

FCX will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect FCX to post earnings of $0.73 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 2333.33%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $5.83 billion, up 90.81% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $3.13 per share and revenue of $23.43 billion, which would represent changes of +479.63% and +65.02%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for FCX. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.05% higher within the past month. FCX is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that FCX has a Forward P/E ratio of 11.66 right now. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 15.72, which means FCX is trading at a discount to the group.

We can also see that FCX currently has a PEG ratio of 0.42. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Mining – Non Ferrous industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 0.61 as of yesterday's close.

The Mining – Non Ferrous industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 77, putting it in the top 31% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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 follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.

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