Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) ended the recent trading session at $72.56, demonstrating a -1.85% change from the preceding day's closing price. The stock's performance was behind the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.06%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 1.18%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.4%.

The mining company's shares have seen an increase of 6.54% over the last month, not keeping up with the Basic Materials sector's gain of 12.41% and outstripping the S&P 500's gain of 2.46%.

Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Freeport-McMoRan in its upcoming earnings disclosure. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $0.73, marking a 46% rise compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $7.07 billion, up 1.4% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $2.81 per share and a revenue of $28.62 billion, demonstrating changes of +58.76% and +10.46%, respectively, from the preceding year.

It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for Freeport-McMoRan. 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 business health and profitability.

Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. 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, 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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 2.19% higher within the past month. Right now, Freeport-McMoRan possesses a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

From a valuation perspective, Freeport-McMoRan is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 26.27. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 26.31, so one might conclude that Freeport-McMoRan is trading at a discount comparatively.

It's also important to note that FCX currently trades at a PEG ratio of 0.73. 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. The Mining – Non Ferrous industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1 as of yesterday's close.

The Mining – Non Ferrous industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 188, positioning it in the bottom 24% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming 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).

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