Freeport-McMoRan's profit beats Q4 estimates thanks to higher copper prices

The miner Freeport-McMoRan surpassed fourth-quarter profit expectations on Thursday as higher copper prices helped to offset the impact of reduced production.

The copper price rose in the third quarter on the back of signs of increased stimulus from China, declining inventories and an accelerated U.S. employment growth in September. This indicates resilience in the largest economy in the world.

The average quarterly realized price of copper has increased to $4.15 a pound from $3.81 a pound one year ago.

The overall revenue was affected by the fact that quarterly copper production dropped about 5%, to 1,04 billion pounds recoverable, year-over-year.

Freeport-McMoRan expects to sell 4 billion pounds (about 4.5 billion kilograms) of copper this year, a slight decrease from 2024.

The company's shares were down 3.4% on pre-market trading due to a revenue forecast that was lower than expected for the quarter and a higher capital expenditure estimate for the entire year.

The company's shares were also affected by the lower copper prices of Thursday.

According to LSEG, on a adjusted basis, the company made 31 cents a share during the quarter. This compares with an average analyst estimate of 20 cents based on LSEG's data.

According to LSEG, the company reported a quarterly revenue of $5.72billion for the period ended December 31, which was below analysts' average estimate $5.88billion. (Reporting from Tanay in Bengaluru, Editing by Tasim Zaid)

(source: Reuters)