Freeport-McMoRan Q3 2026 earnings: profit tops estimates as Grasberg mine recovers

October 27, 2026

Freeport-McMoRan beat profit and revenue estimates in Q3 2026 as its Grasberg mine in Indonesia kept recovering from last year's disruption, though production costs rose.

Key takeaways

• Adjusted profit and sales both came in above Wall Street’s expectations: adjusted earnings of $0.88 per share beat the $0.80 estimate, and revenue of $7.55 billion edged past the roughly $7.50 billion analysts had forecast. GAAP net income was about $1.2 billion, or $0.81 per share.
• The headline story is the recovery of Freeport’s giant Grasberg copper and gold complex in Indonesia, which was disrupted by an incident in September 2025. Mill throughput averaged about 140,000 metric tons of ore a day in the quarter — roughly two-thirds of normal pre-incident rates — with the newer underground “Block Cave” mine supplying about half of that.
• The smelter that processes PTFI’s (Freeport’s Indonesian unit’s) ore restarted successfully in late August 2026 after being offline, removing one of the bottlenecks that had been limiting how much metal the company could sell.
• Quarterly output was about 830 million pounds of copper and 230,000 ounces of gold, but roughly 60,000 ounces of gold sales slipped from the third quarter into the fourth — a timing issue in when metal gets shipped and sold, not a sign of weaker demand.
• The cost to mine each pound of copper rose to $2.07 from $1.40 a year earlier, mainly because output at Grasberg is still below normal and energy and material costs ran higher. Management expects costs to ease to $1.68 per pound in the fourth quarter, averaging $1.90 for the full year.
• The company’s margins show the business stayed efficient at the production level — gross and operating margins both sit around 27%, meaning Freeport keeps about 27 cents of every revenue dollar after mining and operating costs. Net profit margin is lower, at about 11%, largely because Freeport shares Grasberg’s profits with Indonesian minority partners and pays substantial local taxes and royalties there.
• Revenue over the past twelve months is down about 24% from a year earlier, reflecting the lingering drag from the 2025 Grasberg disruption on prior quarters — even as this quarter’s results show output clawing back toward normal.
• Despite that revenue decline, earnings per share over the past twelve months are up about 53% from a year ago, and return on shareholder equity stands at about 15% — signs that cost control and firmer metal prices have supported profitability even while mine volumes haven’t fully recovered.
• Management said Grasberg’s ramp-up is tracking expectations, with the mine’s output expected to climb further through 2027 and 2028 as it returns closer to full capacity; the company flagged that its outlook still depends on the pace of that ramp-up, the smelter staying online, energy costs tied to Middle East tensions, and weather.

How the stock took it

Freeport-McMoRan Inc closed at $65.16 on Oct 26, 2026, the last session before the report, and at $66.60 on Oct 28, 2026, the first session after it — +2.2% across the report.

Closes from the market's daily record. Each figure spans the report date — from the last session that closed before it to the first that closed after — because a company may report before the open or after the close.

Fundamentals

Financial history →

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