FCX stock is trading near the upper end of its 2025 range as copper prices push into record territory. Here’s what’s moving Freeport-McMoRan today (Dec. 12, 2025), plus the latest Wall Street price targets, copper forecasts for 2026, and the key risks investors are watching.
Dateline: December 12, 2025
Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX ) is back in the spotlight on Friday, Dec. 12, 2025 as the copper market’s latest surge collides with company-specific headlines—from the long road to restarting production at Grasberg to fresh waves of securities litigation notices.
Around late morning in US trading, FCX hovered near $47.25 , down roughly 1.8% on the session after closing at $48.11 on Thursday. Intraday, the stock traded between roughly $46.82 and $48.93 , with volume in the high single-digit millions by mid-session. [1]
What’s notable: this pullback comes after a strong prior session (Dec. 11) and with copper narrative momentum still building into year-end—fueled by tightening supply stories, tariff uncertainty, and demand tied to grid buildouts and data centers.
FCX stock today: why Freeport-McMoRan shares are moving on Dec. 12, 2025
Three themes are dominating FCX conversations today:
- Copper’s record run (and the debate over what comes next in 2026).
- Operational recovery and timing at Grasberg (Indonesia).
- Headline risk: class-action lawsuit notices resurfacing today, plus broader US policy shifts around copper.
On the market-structure side, Investor’s Business Daily highlighted a rise in FCX’s Relative Strength (RS) Rating (70 → 75) as of Friday, pointing to improving momentum—but still below the “80+” zone that many technical investors associate with top-performing breakouts. [2]
Meanwhile, MarketWatch coverage of Thursday’s close emphasized that FCX finished Dec. 11 at $48.11 (+3.57%) , still just below its 52-week high around $49.12 . [3]
Copper market backdrop: record prices, then a split in 2026 forecasts
FCX is, first and foremost, a leveraged bet on copper (with meaningful gold byproduct exposure). Reuters’ company profile describes Freeport as an international metals company focused on copper, spanning assets including Morenci , Cerro Verde , Indonesia (Grasberg/PT-FI) , and downstream operations. [4]
Copper hit records in December—helping copper-exposed miners
Reuters recently noted London copper climbed from a 2025 low to new records in early December , citing a peak of $11,705/ton on Dec. 5 — with US import/tariff dynamics playing a key role in price formation. [5]
Goldman Sachs Research, writing on Dec. 11, 2025 , also described copper reaching a record $11,771/ton on Dec. 8 , attributing the broader industrial-metals rally to factors including lower rates, a weaker dollar, China growth expectations, supply disruptions, and AI-linked infrastructure demand. [6]
2026 outlook: UBS sees tightening deficits; Goldman sees a surplus cap
Here’s where the “forecast fight” gets interesting—and why FCX can be volatile even when copper is strong:
- UBS (via Reuters, Nov. 24) raised its copper outlook sharply, projecting $11,500/ton by March 2026 and stepping higher into late 2026 with a $13,000/ton target by December 2026 , citing tighter supply and persistent disruption risk. [7]
- Goldman Sachs Research (Dec. 11) expects copper to cool somewhat in 2026 , forecasting a range of $10,000–$11,000/ton next year and arguing that continued supply surplus dynamics could prevent copper from staying above $11,000 for long—while still staying constructive longer-term. [8]
Why this matters for FCX stock: Freeport tends to amplify the copper tape—rising hard when the market prices in sustained tightness, and pulling back fast when traders start thinking “peaks, not plateaus.”
Grasberg restart timeline: the operational catalyst FCX investors can’t ignore
A defining FCX storyline since September has been the fatal mud rush incident at the Grasberg Block Cave operation in Indonesia—one of the world’s most important copper-and-gold districts.
Reuters reported that Freeport plans to restore production at Grasberg by July , after the September 8 incident in which seven workers were killed when roughly 800,000 metric tons of wet mud flooded part of the mine. [9]
Crucially for forecasting:
- Under the phased plan, Reuters reported Freeport expects 2026 copper and gold output roughly in line with 2025 at around 1 billion pounds of copper and 900,000 ounces of gold from PT Freeport Indonesia. [10]
- Reuters also reported Freeport expects production to build through 2026–2027, targeting average annual volumes of about 1.6 billion pounds of copper and 1.3 million ounces of gold over 2027–2029 . [11]
This is one of the biggest “model drivers” for FCX: the market is not just pricing copper—it’s pricing how quickly Freeport can normalize volumes while rebuilding confidence on safety and reliability.
Barron’s coverage of a late-2025 Grasberg update framed it as reducing downside risk , noting at least one analyst remained positive with a $48 target in that context. [12]
Strategy and growth: CEO downplays M&A, highlights technology and US upside
At the Reuters NEXT conference in New York (Dec. 4, 2025), Freeport CEO Kathleen Quirk struck a cautious tone on dealmaking—saying the company would only pursue an acquisition if “the stars and the moon” aligned, and emphasizing a focus on developing existing assets. [13]
Reuters also noted Freeport’s scale and ambition:
- It described Freeport as the world’s largest publicly traded copper company , and reported production figures including 4.1 billion pounds globally and 1.26 billion pounds in the US (as referenced in the conference discussion). [14]
- It also highlighted a goal to produce ~800 million pounds per year outside traditional mining via novel leaching technology in the US by the end of the decade. [15]
For FCX stock, this “technology + domestic copper” narrative matters because it touches both cost structure and US policy tailwinds —two levers that can reshape valuation over time.
Policy tailwinds and tariff risk: copper becomes more strategic in Washington
US policy has become a meaningful part of the copper story—sometimes bullish (incentives), sometimes destabilizing (trade friction and supply chain distortion).
Reuters reported that the Trump administration expanded the US critical minerals list to include copper (among other additions), positioning it as essential for economic and national security—particularly for EVs, power grids, and data centers . [16]
Separately, Reuters reported the administration reversed certain Biden-era rules affecting US copper smelters, and referenced the limited number of domestic smelters—including one operated by Freeport—while also discussing tariff and scrap-policy actions tied to copper. [17]
Bottom line: FCX’s “US copper leverage” can benefit when Washington pushes for domestic supply, but policy-driven trade flows can also create price spikes and reversals that ripple into miners’ share prices.
Legal headlines on Dec. 12, 2025: class-action notices return to the newsfeed
One of the most visible same-day (Dec. 12) developments isn’t operational—it’s legal.
Multiple law firms published announcements today publicizing securities class action activity and/or deadlines tied to FCX shareholders, including releases distributed via PR Newswire and GlobeNewswire. [18]
These notices generally reference allegations connected to prior disclosures and the stock’s reaction during 2025 (particularly around the Grasberg incident period). They do not determine outcomes on their own, but they can:
- Increase headline volatility
- Keep the safety-and-disclosure narrative in focus
- Add an “overhang” in sentiment until investors see clearer resolution timelines
(As always, allegations in filed complaints are not findings of fact; outcomes depend on litigation processes.)
FCX stock forecast: analyst targets cluster near current levels, with upside cases tied to copper
As of Dec. 12, 2025, many consensus trackers show FCX price targets clustered around the high-$40s , close to where the stock is currently trading—while the bullish outliers lean into the “higher-for-longer copper” thesis.
A few widely followed snapshots:
- StockAnalysis lists a consensus in the high-$40s , with targets ranging roughly from the low-$40s to the high-$50s . [19]
- MarketScreener shows a mean/average target around $48–$49 with a “Buy”-leaning consensus among tracked analysts. [20]
- MarketBeat reports a similar setup: an average target near $48 , with a spread from roughly the high-$30s/low-$40s up to ~$60 depending on the analyst set being tracked. [21]
- Benzinga ‘s analyst ratings page also reflects a recent high target of $58 attributed to JPMorgan (Dec. 5, 2025) , illustrating where the bulls sit. [22]
How to interpret this (without hype)
When the consensus target is close to the current quote, FCX tends to trade more on incremental news flow than on a single “target number”—especially:
- copper price momentum vs. mean reversion
- clarity on Grasberg’s recovery path
- US tariff/incentive developments
- cost inflation and realized pricing
What to watch next for Freeport-McMoRan stock into early 2026
If you’re following FCX from a news-driven perspective, these are the most important “next catalysts” to keep on your radar:
- Copper direction into 2026: The UBS vs. Goldman divergence sets up a tug-of-war narrative (deficit-driven melt-up vs. surplus cap). [23]
- Grasberg restart milestones: Markets will likely react to each update on restart pacing, safety actions, and production normalization. [24]
- Earnings timing: Several market calendars currently estimate Freeport’s next report around late January 2026 (exact date can vary until confirmed by the company). [25]
- Policy developments: Critical minerals policy and copper-trade actions remain fast-moving and can impact both copper pricing and the “US premium” narrative for domestic producers. [26]
- Legal overhang headlines: Expect periodic bursts of coverage as deadlines approach and filings progress. [27]
The takeaway for Dec. 12, 2025
Freeport-McMoRan stock is behaving like what it is: a high-sensitivity proxy for copper price expectations , with an added layer of execution risk tied to Grasberg and a fresh round of headline risk from litigation notices.
With FCX trading around the mid-to-high $40s today and consensus targets also hovering in that neighborhood, the “next move” for the stock likely depends less on static valuation models—and more on whether copper holds near record levels and whether Freeport continues to de-risk its operational timeline in Indonesia.
References
1. investors.fcx.com, 2. www.investors.com, 3. www.marketwatch.com, 4. www.reuters.com, 5. www.reuters.com, 6. www.goldmansachs.com, 7. www.reuters.com, 8. www.goldmansachs.com, 9. www.reuters.com, 10. www.reuters.com, 11. www.reuters.com, 12. www.barrons.com, 13. www.reuters.com, 14. www.reuters.com, 15. www.reuters.com, 16. www.reuters.com, 17. www.reuters.com, 18. www.prnewswire.com, 19. stockanalysis.com, 20. www.marketscreener.com, 21. www.marketbeat.com, 22. www.benzinga.com, 23. www.reuters.com, 24. www.reuters.com, 25. www.marketbeat.com, 26. www.reuters.com, 27. www.prnewswire.com
