Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX) will try to beat its earnings estimates for the fifth consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Wednesday, October 19. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold is an international company that mines copper, gold and molybdenum.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts are bullish on this stock with 13 analysts rating it as a buy and only one rating it as a sell. Analysts like Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold better than competitor Newmont Mining overall. Analysts still rate the stock a Moderate buy, but they are a bit more wary about it compared to three months ago.
  • Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $4.92 billion in revenue this quarter. That would represent a decline of 4.5% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $1.21 per share. Estimates range from 82 cents to $1.51.

What our community says:
 CAPS All Stars are solidly behind the stock with 97.1% giving it an "outperform" rating. The community at large agrees with the All Stars with 96.6% awarding it a rating of "outperform." Fools are gung-ho about Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 1,878 posts in the past 30 days. Even with a robust four out of five stars, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold's CAPS rating falls a little short of the community's upbeat outlook.

Management:
 Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold's profit has risen year over year by an average of 59.2% over the past five quarters. The company increased its gross margin by 12 percentage points in the last quarter. Revenue rose 50.5% while cost of sales rose 20.7% to $2.82 billion from a year earlier.

Now let's look at how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. The following table shows gross, operating, and net margins over the past four quarters.

Quarter

Q2

Q1

Q4

Q3

Gross Margin

51.4%

53.4%

57.1%

50.1%

Operating Margin

47.4%

51.4%

55.3%

48.5%

Net Margin

23.5%

26.3%

27.6%

22.9%

One final thing: If you want to keep tabs on Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold movements, and for more analysis on the company, make sure you add it to your Watchlist.

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