Why Shares in Copper Miner Freeport-McMoRan Soared Today
Shares in copper miner Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) were up by more than 8% by early afternoon today. In general, it was a good day for cyclical mining stocks -- usually a sign that the market is taking a positive view of the economic growth outlook. That said, there are some stock-specific reasons why Freeport outperformed, and they come down to management's commentary around the company's third-quarter earnings released the day before.
The results themselves brought few surprises; after all, investors can see where the price of copper is in the market and therefore ascertain the trend in Freeport's revenue. However, management's discussion of current market conditions and growth prospects was telling.
During the earnings call, CEO Richard Adkerson talked of the physical copper market being "strikingly tight globally right now" and customers "fighting" to get hold of products. Meanwhile, CFO Kathleen Quirk said copper demand remained healthy and "inventories remain low by historical levels."
Source Fool.com
