Freeport-McMoRan to Post Q2 Earnings: What’s in Store for the Stock?
Freeport-McMoRan Inc. FCX is set to release second-quarter 2025 results before the opening bell on July 23. The mining giant beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in two of the trailing four quarters, missed once while delivering in-line results on the other occasion. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 10.5%, on average.
Favorable copper prices, lower unit costs and higher sales volumes are likely to have aided FCX's performance in the second quarter. FCX stock has lost 2.6% in the past year compared with the Zacks Mining - Non Ferrous industry's 11.1% decline.
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Let's see how things are shaping up for this announcement.
Our proven model predicts an earnings beat for Freeport this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earning beat.
Earnings ESP: Earnings ESP for FCX is +1.62%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the second quarter is currently pegged at 46 cents. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they're reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Zacks Rank: FCX currently carries a Zacks Rank #3. (Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.)
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Freeport's second-quarter consolidated revenues is currently pegged at £7,121 million, which suggests a year-over-year increase of roughly 7.5%.
Freeport's second-quarter results are expected to reflect favorable copper prices. Copper prices remained volatile in the second quarter amid global economic and trade uncertainties.
After racking up solid gains in late March, copper prices slipped to around £4.1 per pound in early April amid demand worries due to tariffs, which threatened to cause a broader slowdown globally. However, prices of the red metal moved up in late April to roughly £4.9 per pound amid a weakening U.S. dollar on heightened concerns about the prospect of a downturn in the U.S. economy. Prices again retreated to around £4.7 per pound in late May on weak global demand and increased supply.
Prices recovered in June to close the second quarter above the £5 per pound level, leading to a roughly 25% gain in the first six months of 2025.
FCX is also expected to have gained from higher sales volumes. Its consolidated copper sales volumes fell around 21% year over year to 872 million pounds in the first quarter, reflecting a major maintenance project in Indonesia. However, volumes are expected to have picked up in the second quarter on the back of an increase in Indonesia.
FCX, on its first-quarter call, said that it sees consolidated copper sales of 1 billion pounds for the second quarter, suggesting a rise from the first quarter. Our estimate for second-quarter copper sales volumes stands at 1,005 million pounds, which indicates a year-over-year rise of 8% and a 15% sequential increase. Lower unit costs are also likely to have aided the company's performance in the June quarter.
Freeport expects its consolidated average unit net cash costs to decline in the remainder of 2025 from the first quarter levels, driven by higher copper and gold volumes from Indonesia.
Our estimate for second-quarter consolidated average unit net cash costs per pound of copper is pegged at £1.50, indicating a decline from £2.07 in the prior quarter.
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