# Freeport Q3 Preview Points to Lower Copper and Gold Output

By John Kim

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/business/41634
Published: 2026-10-27T10:11:33.000Z
Updated: 2026-10-27T10:11:33.000Z
Section: Business

> Revenue estimates range from $7.09 billion to $7.4 billion, while preliminary company estimates point to lower copper and gold production.

Freeport-McMoRan is scheduled to release third-quarter results before U.S. markets open Tuesday, Oct. 27, with analyst estimates ranging from $0.78 to $0.83 a share and preliminary operating forecasts showing lower metal output.

Revenue estimates span $7.09 billion to $7.4 billion, compared with $6.972 billion in the year-earlier quarter. The forecasts, gathered from Oct. 22 to Oct. 26, are not company guidance and do not represent one definitive consensus. Their earnings-per-share accounting basis is unclear. Freeport recorded diluted GAAP earnings of $0.46 per share and adjusted earnings of $0.50 in the third quarter of 2025.

Freeport’s preliminary estimates put third-quarter copper production at about 830 million pounds, down from 912 million a year earlier. Gold production was estimated at 230,000 ounces, compared with 287,000. The company said the operating estimates were subject to its quarterly closing process.

Freeport expects to sell roughly 750 million pounds of copper and 100,000 ounces of gold in the third quarter. A year earlier, it sold 977 million pounds and 336,000 ounces, respectively. Timing at its Indonesian operations was expected to shift about 60,000 ounces of refined gold sales from the third quarter to the fourth.

Freeport estimated its realized copper price would exceed $6.50 per pound. It expected unit net cash costs to be about 5% above its July estimate of $2 per pound, mainly because the deferred gold sales would reduce by-product credits.

At Grasberg, mill throughput averaged about 140,000 metric tons of ore per day, or about 67% of normalized rates before the September 2025 incident. Freeport expected the operation to reach 80% of capacity in mid-2027 and approach full capacity by year-end 2027. The company scheduled a conference call for 10 a.m. ET (14:00 UTC) Tuesday.