Shares of Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) jumped 4.5 % during today's afternoon session, bringing their 52 week performance to -6.6%. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. engages in the mining of mineral properties in North America, South America, and Indonesia. The large-cap Basic Materials company is based in Phoenix, United States and has 24,700 full time employees.
FCX Is Generating Cash
Freeport-McMoRan has decent free cash flows. This represents the actual cash that the company is generating from its sales revenues, minus its re-investments in the business (capital expenditures). The company's operating cash flows have an average growth rate of 65.9%, compared to None% for capital expenditures. From the table below we can also see that the free cash flows has an average growth rate of 152.9% and a coefficient of variability of 152.8%:
| Date Reported | Cash Flow from Operations ($) | Capital expenditures ($) | Free Cash Flow ($) | YoY Growth (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-12-31 | 7,715,000,000.0 | -2,115,000,000.0 | 5,600,000,000.0 | 430.3 |
| 2020-12-31 | 3,017,000,000.0 | -1,961,000,000.0 | 1,056,000,000.0 | 190.26 |
| 2019-12-31 | 1,482,000,000.0 | -2,652,000,000.0 | -1,170,000,000.0 | -161.84 |
| 2018-12-31 | 3,863,000,000.0 | -1,971,000,000.0 | 1,892,000,000.0 | n/a |
Freeport-McMoRan's Operating Margins Are Growing
| Date Reported | Total Revenue ($) | Operating Expenses ($) | Operating Margins (%) | YoY Growth (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-12-31 | 22,845,000,000.0 | 14,552,000,000.0 | 36.3 | 148.46 |
| 2020-12-31 | 14,198,000,000.0 | 12,123,000,000.0 | 14.61 | 238.98 |
| 2019-12-31 | 14,402,000,000.0 | 13,781,000,000.0 | 4.31 | -82.27 |
| 2018-12-31 | 18,628,000,000.0 | 14,100,000,000.0 | 24.31 | n/a |
Freeport-McMoRan's cost of revenue is growing at a rate of 1.4% in contrast to 1.9% for operating expenses. Sales revenues, on the other hand, have experienced a 12.3% growth rate. As a result, the average gross margins growth is 22.9 and the average operating margins growth rate is 101.7, with coefficients of variability of 37.0% and 68.7% respectively.
We See Mixed Market Signals Regarding FCX
Freeport-McMoRan has an average rating of buy and target prices ranging from $55 to $23. At its current price of $37.76, the company is trading 2.76% away from its target price of $36.74. 1.9% of the company's shares are linked to short positions, and 79.3% of the shares are owned by institutional investors.
