Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc (FCX)
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Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX), the copper giant from Phoenix, ranks fifth in our in-house Terry Smith quality scanner (U.S. selection, as of July 18, 2026): $25.9 billion of 2025 revenue, record copper and gold prices, a Piotroski score of 8 of 9. We read the annual report (10-K) for 2025 and the quarterly report (10-Q) as of March 31, 2026 — and they also tell the other story: a mud rush that killed seven workers in the company's most important mine, a recovery that now stretches to mid-2027, a profit jump that partly consists of an insurance settlement — and a mine of which FCX owns just 48.76 percent. Not investment advice — just a measure of how much mountain lies between the quality seal and reality.
Appears in These Scanners
This stock currently matches 7 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
Only genuine hits from verified scanners count; pure ranking metrics (P/E, P/S, and similar, which just sort the whole universe) don't count as a hit. View all scanners
Basics
Performance
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Dividend
Quality & Screener
AI Rating
Uses AIFreeport-McMoRan verkauft Kupfer, Gold und Molybdän — keine KI-Produkte als Umsatzquelle. Das 10-K für GJ 2025 belegt aber ausdrücklich operativen KI-Einsatz: Geschäfts- und Betriebsprozesse nutzen „traditional and emerging technology systems, including AI“ für Tagesbetrieb, Sicherheit, Effizienz und Kostensenkung; dazu Datenanalytik/neue Technologien in den Laugungsprozessen (Leaching) und Automatisierung. KI taucht zusätzlich als Nachfragetreiber für Kupfer auf (Rechenzentren/KI-Wachstum) und in Risk Factors nur als Angreifer-Werkzeug bei Cyberrisiken — beides keine Umsatzquelle und keine konkrete Bedrohung des Geschäftsmodells. Vorrang-Regel geprüft: verkauft nein, bedroht nein → nutzt.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
„Many of our business and operational processes utilize traditional and emerging technology systems, including AI, to conduct day-to-day operations, improve safety and efficiency, and lower costs."
Viele unserer Geschäfts- und Betriebsprozesse nutzen traditionelle und neue Technologiesysteme, einschließlich KI, um das Tagesgeschäft zu führen, Sicherheit und Effizienz zu verbessern und Kosten zu senken.
„In addition to our innovative leaching initiatives, we are pursuing opportunities to leverage new technologies and analytic tools in automation and operating practices with a goal of improving operating efficiencies and reducing costs and capital intensity of our current operations and future development projects."
Zusätzlich zu unseren innovativen Laugungs-Initiativen verfolgen wir Möglichkeiten, neue Technologien und Analysewerkzeuge in Automatisierung und Betriebsabläufen einzusetzen — mit dem Ziel, die betriebliche Effizienz zu verbessern und Kosten sowie Kapitalintensität unserer laufenden Betriebe und künftigen Entwicklungsprojekte zu senken.
„We believe fundamentals for copper are favorable with growing demand supported by copper's critical role in electrification initiatives, continued urbanization in developing countries, data centers and artificial intelligence (AI) growth, increased defense spending and growing connectivity globally."
Wir halten die Fundamentaldaten für Kupfer für günstig: wachsende Nachfrage, getragen von Kupfers zentraler Rolle bei Elektrifizierungs-Initiativen, fortgesetzter Urbanisierung in Entwicklungsländern, dem Wachstum von Rechenzentren und Künstlicher Intelligenz (KI), steigenden Verteidigungsausgaben und weltweit zunehmender Vernetzung.
Filings Reviewed: 10-Q 2026-05-08 · 10-Q 2025-11-06 · 10-Q 2025-08-08 · 10-Q 2025-05-08 · 10-K 2026-02-13 · 10-K 2025-02-14
Rated on July 18, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built
Highlighted are things our editorial team noticed: green = stands out as strong, red = deserves a closer look. No single metric is a verdict on its own — always read it in context.
Quarterly Figures
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024: Q4 | 0.19 | -29.20 | 5,880 | 1.40 | 4.70 | 1,436 | 197 |
| 2025: Q1 | 0.24 | -26.10 | 5,554 | -10.60 | 6.20 | 1,058 | -114 |
| 2025: Q2 | 0.53 | 26.60 | 7,582 | 19.00 | 10.20 | 2,195 | 3,367 |
| 2025: Q3 | 0.47 | 29.70 | 6,972 | 4.40 | 9.70 | 1,664 | 608 |
| 2025: Q4 | 0.28 | 48.40 | 5,633 | -4.20 | 7.20 | 693 | 1,749 |
| 2026: Q1 | 0.61 | 154.60 | 6,234 | 12.20 | 14.10 | 1,495 | 522 |
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
Realized 2025 prices: $4.75 per pound of copper and $3,423 per ounce of gold; copper all-time highs on LME and COMEX in January 2026 ($6.28/$6.18). Demand carried by electrification, data centers and AI build-out (10-K FY 2025, 10-Q as of March 31, 2026).
Net debt of $2.4 billion (March 31, 2026, excluding separately financed smelter debt), target corridor $3–4 billion, Piotroski 8 of 9 and Altman-Z above 5 (Q1 2026); $0.60 dividend plus buybacks inside a rule-based payout framework (10-K, 10-Q).
98 percent of gold and about 30 percent of copper from one district that has run at reduced rates since the mud rush of September 8, 2025 (seven fatalities, force majeure): Blocks 2 and 3 at about 60 percent of capacity, bottlenecks "by mid-2027"; 2026 guidance cut (10-K; 10-Q as of March 31, 2026).
Only 48.76 percent of PTFI (Indonesia's state: 51.24 percent), mining rights through 2031/2041, reserves calculated only through 2041; extension per the 10-K against a reduction to about 37 percent from 2042; plus Indonesian tax assessments under objection (10-Q).
Q1 2026 profit of $881 million includes a $0.7 billion insurance settlement (net special items +$51 million); copper volumes −25 percent, gold −66 percent. A P/E around 29 to 33 (buyback price Q1 2026 and fundamental data July 18, 2026) largely prices in the comeback.
By its SEC filings, Freeport-McMoRan is a commodity company in top bookkeeping form: record copper and gold prices, $25.9 billion of 2025 revenue, a balance sheet close to a fortress and a rule-based payout framework. But no quality filter measures the three biggest risks: the best mine produces at reduced rates after a disaster that killed seven workers — the timetable slid within three months from "85 percent by late 2026" to "60 percent of capacity until mid-2027" —, the latest profit jump contains a one-time insurance payment, and the mine belongs to the company only to 48.76 percent, from 2042 probably only to about 37. Not investment advice.
- FCX reached the research list via rank 5 in the in-house Terry Smith quality scanner (U.S. selection, as of July 18, 2026); additional hits in the Peter Lynch PEG, Altman-Z and Levermann filters. A quality scanner measures the books, not mine physics, ownership structures or resource politics — it never replaces the cross-check in the SEC filings.
- Valuation figures deliberately anchored evergreen: the price anchor is the average buyback price FCX itself reported in the 10-Q ($54.25 in Q1 2026); P/E and P/S computed from it with TTM figures as of March 31, 2026, supplemented by fundamental data as of July 18, 2026. Analyses are evergreen, daily prices are not a buy argument.
- Identity verified via EDGAR submissions (CIK 0000831259, Delaware, NYSE: FCX, domestic filer 10-K/10-Q, no Form 15, no FPI). Current name "Freeport-McMoRan Inc."; the former name "Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc." applied only until July 2, 2014. Fiscal year ends December 31.
About the Company
Freeport-McMoRan Inc. betreibt den Abbau von Mineralvorkommen in Nordamerika, Südamerika und Indonesien.
| Employees | 29,000 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Phoenix, AZ |
| Website | fcx.com |
| IPO Date | 10. Jul 1995 |
| Next Earnings | 22. Jul 2026 |
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Kathleen Lynne Quirk | CEO, President & Director | 1964 |
| Maree E. Robertson | Executive VP & CFO | 1976 |
| Stephen T. Higgins | Executive VP & Chief Administrative Officer | 1958 |
| Douglas N. Currault II | Executive VP & General Counsel | 1965 |
| Ellie L. Mikes | VP & Chief Accounting Officer | 1978 |
| Bertrand L. Odinet II | Senior VP, Chief Information Officer & Chief Innovation Officer | – |
| David Joint | Vice President of Investor Relations | – |
| Pamela Q. Masson | Senior VP & Chief Human Resources Officer, | – |
| W. Russell King | Senior Vice President of International Relations & Federal Government Affairs | 1950 |
| A. Cory Stevens | Senior Vice President and President & COO of Freeport McMoRan Mining Services | – |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
Data as of: July 20, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.