Key Highlights

  • Freeport-McMoRan reported third-quarter earnings on Tuesday, October 27, before the open, with the EPS estimate at $0.83 and the reported figure at $0.88 as screened.
  • Copper production was about 830 million pounds, and copper sales were guided to about 750 million pounds.
  • The realized copper price was expected to exceed $6.50 per pound, against $6.17 in the second quarter.
  • Unit net cash costs were guided to about $2.10 per pound, 5% above the July estimate of $2.00.
  • Grasberg mill throughput averaged about 140,000 metric tons of ore per day, roughly 67% of normal pre-incident rates.

Freeport-McMoRan Earnings: Did Copper Prices Offset the Grasberg Disruption?

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) scheduled its third-quarter results for Tuesday, October 27, before the market open, with a call later that morning. The EPS estimate as screened was $0.83 and the reported figure as screened was $0.88, a surprise of 5.94% as screened. In the second quarter the company earned $0.68 per share on a GAAP basis and $0.74 as adjusted.

The operating picture came from the company's October 2 update. Copper production was about 830 million pounds and gold production about 230 thousand ounces, both in line with plan. Copper sales were expected at about 750 million pounds, and the realized copper price was expected to exceed $6.50 per pound, up from $6.17 in the second quarter.

Freeport-McMoRan Costs: Why Did Unit Net Cash Costs Rise Above Plan?

Unit net cash costs were guided to about $2.10 per pound of copper, about 5% above the July estimate of $2.00. The company attributed the gap to lower by-product credits after about 60 thousand ounces of refined gold at PT Freeport Indonesia were pushed from the third quarter into the fourth. Gold sales were expected at about 100 thousand ounces for the quarter, below the July estimate of 160 thousand.

In the second quarter, unit net cash costs were $1.97 per pound, better than the April estimate of $2.24, and copper sales were 710 million pounds against 1.016 billion a year earlier.

Freeport-McMoRan Grasberg Recovery: How Fast Is Production Returning?

Mill throughput averaged about 140,000 metric tons of ore per day in the third quarter, roughly 67% of the rate before the September 2025 incident, with about 70,000 tons per day from the Grasberg Block Cave. The Indonesian smelter restarted in late August and its ramp-up is proceeding as planned. Combined smelting capacity, including PT Smelting, is up to about 800,000 metric tons of cathode per year.

Haulage upgrades at the Block Cave are targeted for early 2027, and Production Block 1S is targeted to restart by mid-2027. The company expects 80% of capacity by mid-2027 and near full capacity by the end of 2027.

Its July outlook for 2026 called for about 3.1 billion pounds of copper sales, about 650 thousand ounces of gold, unit net cash costs of about $1.90 per pound and operating cash flow of about $8.3 billion.

Freeport-McMoRan Capital Returns and Growth: What to Watch After the Report?

The balance sheet at the end of the second quarter showed cash of $4.1 billion, total debt of $9.4 billion and net debt of $2.1 billion, excluding $3.2 billion of downstream processing debt, against a net debt target of $3.0 billion to $4.0 billion. The dividend framework pays a $0.075 per share base plus a variable component, and the second-quarter payout was $0.15. About $2.2 billion of a $5.0 billion buyback program had been used as of July 22.

Next on the agenda are fourth-quarter gold sales catching up on the deferral, any 2027 volume and cost outlook, the year-end decision on doubling capacity at Bagdad in Arizona, and the regulatory process for a possible El Abra expansion in Chile.