Why You Should Avoid the New McMoRan

By Chris Hill – Dec 6, 2012 at 1:57PM

NYSE: FCX

Freeport-McMoRan

Market Cap

$72B

Today's Change

(0.68%) $0.34

Current Price

$50.16

Price as of April 18, 2024, 4:00 p.m. ET

Wall Street did not like Freeport McMoRan's new acquisition deals.

The following video is from Wednesday's MarketFoolery podcast in which host Chris Hill, along with analysts Jason Moser and Bill Barker, discuss the top business and investing stories.

In this segment, the discussion focuses on Freeport McMoRan's (NYSE: FCX) announcement that it is acquiring Plains Exploration & Production (NYSE: PXP) and McMoRan Exploration Company (NYSE: MMR). On the announcement, both of those stocks jumped up, 26% and a whopping 88%, respectively. The problem? When Wall Street likes an acquisition, the acquirer's stock goes up too, but shares of Freeport are trading down 14%. Our analysts ask: Did Freeport overpay, and what went wrong?

Chris Hill has no positions in the stocks mentioned above. The Motley Fool owns shares of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.