Freeport-McMoRan Q4 Loss Widens

Earlier, the company reported an adjusted fourth-quarter loss of 2 cents a share, which beat the 18-cent loss estimated on average by 14 analysts tracked by Bloomberg. The natural resource company reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.07.

For a complete fundamental analysis analysis of Freeport-McMoRan Inc, check out Equities.com’s Stock Valuation Analysis report for FCX.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected per-share loss of 17 cents and revenue of $3.84 billion. The company’s capital spending budget is also $3.4 billion, and I don’t think that this is a coincidence.

The company was able to surpass expectations by keeping its costs in check, with the company’s consolidated unit net cash cost averaging $1.45 per pound for copper and $16.67 per barrel of oil equivalent during the quarter. Without a decisive catalyst, Freeport-McMoRan’s shares may continue to trade in a choppy fashion, unnerving long-term investors and taking money away from short-term players. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.55B billion. Post opening the session at $4.59, the shares hit an intraday low of $3.8 and an intraday high of $4.66 and the price vacillated in this range throughout the day. That said, neither Noble or Rowan will come away empty handed, with Freeport-McMoRan expected to incur idle rig costs totaling $600 million in 2016 and $400 million in 2017 associated with these three rigs. The 52-week high of Freeport-McMoran, Inc. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc., a natural resource company, engages in the acquisition of mineral assets, and oil and natural gas resources. Freeport-McMoRan retains access to $4 billion of revolving credit facility, which could be used this year. The company operates through North America Copper Mines; South America Mining; Indonesia Mining; Africa Mining; Molybdenum Mines; United States (U.S.) Oil and Gas Operations; Rod & Refining; and Atlantic Copper Smelting & Refining segments. The Companys portfolio of assets includes the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia, mining operations in North and South America, the Tenke Fungurume (Tenke) minerals district in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in Africa, and oil and natural gas assets in North America.