NEW YORK, Jan 15, 2026, 15:00 (EST) — Regular session
Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) shares were little changed at $60.34 in afternoon trade on Thursday, holding near a 52-week high after closing at $60.35 on Wednesday. The stock ranged from $58.73 to $60.60 so far in the session. (MarketWatch)
Copper has been the driver, again, after Rio Tinto said it will supply copper for Amazon’s AI data centers. Copper on the London Metal Exchange has climbed above $13,000 a metric ton, about 40% higher than a year ago. Freeport, the top U.S. producer, has been expanding copper leaching — using solutions to wash metal out of rock piles — and expects to lift leach output to 800 million pounds a year by 2030. (Reuters)
With the shares already stretched, next week’s quarterly update carries more weight than usual. Investors are looking for clear reads on sales volumes, unit costs and how quickly the company can translate high copper prices into cash flow.
Raymond James raised its target price on Freeport to $66 from $53 on Thursday. (MarketScreener)
Investors are also watching Indonesia, where the company’s Freeport Indonesia unit operates the huge Grasberg mine in Papua. Indonesian military rescued 18 Freeport workers after armed rebels surrounded them for three days at a company outpost, and “intimidated the workers,” defence ministry spokesperson Rico Ricardo Sirait told Reuters. The military used drones to deliver food and medicine before evacuating the group, and said no shots were fired in the rescue. (Reuters)
In the options market, traders are bracing for a larger swing around the earnings report. The options market implies a 6.6% move in either direction, and implied volatility — a gauge of expected price swings — rose to about 51% versus a usual level around 40%, Investors Business Daily reported. (Investors)
Operational risk remains a live issue for the stock. Freeport warned last year that a phased restart and ramp-up at Grasberg may not occur until mid-2026 after a mudflow trapped workers and left seven dead. (Reuters)
But copper’s surge has also pulled in speculative money, and that can unwind fast. Goldman Sachs warned the rally has mostly run its course and flagged the risk of a correction, with the bank expecting prices to fall to $11,000 a ton by December 2026, MarketWatch reported. (MarketWatch)
That leaves the stock trading on a mix of copper price action and company specifics: any sign demand is cooling, any supply surprise, and whether Freeport can keep costs contained as it pushes output higher.
The next catalyst comes on Jan. 22, when Freeport hosts its fourth-quarter conference call at 10:00 a.m. ET. (Fcx)
