Freeport-McMoRan Q3 2026 earnings: strong

Freeport-McMoRan, one of the world's biggest copper miners, had its third quarter of 2026 shaped by two opposite forces: a much higher copper price and much less metal sold. Its big Indonesian mine, Grasberg, is still recovering from a mud rush in September 2025. Price won: profit rose sharply even as volumes fell, and the mines produced plenty of cash. ¹

Against what analysts expected

Earnings per share came in above the $0.80 average analysts' forecast on Nasdaq's earnings calendar: $0.81 as reported and $0.88 with one-off items removed. ¹²

The strong points

Profit with one-off items removed, the company's own adjusted figure, rose to $0.88 a share from $0.50 a year earlier. ¹
Freeport received an average of $6.54 for each pound of copper, against $4.68 a year ago, which lifted sales even though it sold less. ¹
Cash from running the mines covered the money spent on them with $822 million to spare in the quarter. ¹

The weak points

Freeport sold 749 million pounds of copper, down from 977 million a year ago, as Grasberg is still ramping back up. ¹
Costs for the idle parts of the Indonesian operations grew to $244 million from $171 million a year ago. ¹

What the company expects

Freeport still expects Grasberg to reach 80% of capacity in mid-2027 and come close to full capacity by the end of 2027, timing it has kept unchanged. ¹
The company expects about $8.5 billion of cash from operations for 2026, assuming copper at $6.50 a pound in the fourth quarter. ¹

Our verdict on the quarter

A strong report. So, in general a strong report from Freeport-McMoRan: a much higher copper price drove profit sharply up and above what analysts expected, with plenty of cash, while the fall in metal sold was largely expected and the company kept its timeline for Grasberg's recovery.

The results as published

Notes

Freeport-McMoRan's results release, 27 October 2026: sec.gov. ↩
Nasdaq's earnings calendar, 27 October 2026. ↩

Freeport-McMoRan earnings: third quarter 2026