Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX) Announced Q1 2026 Earnings on April 23, 2026, Reporting U.S. mining operations contributing 2.5x more operating income in the first quarter of this year compared with last year's first quarter.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. reported that sales of copper, gold and unit costs were better than forecast in the first quarter of 2026.

The company generated growth in revenues, EBITDA and cash flow compared with last year's first quarter.

Management stated that U.S. mining operations contributed 2.5x more operating income in the first quarter of this year compared with last year's first quarter.

The company reached an agreement with insurance providers for a $700 million insurance recovery and returned approximately $300 million to shareholders in the first quarter.

The company completed the required remediation at Grasberg to commence a phased ramp-up in production blocks 2 and 3. During the quarter, the company identified material handling bottlenecks downstream of the extraction level at Grasberg due to an increase in wet ore, with 45 percent of active draw points currently wet compared to 30 percent in September 2025. To address this, the company is installing specialized equipment to regulate the flow of ore for train loading. In the U.S., the company achieved a 19 percent increase in mining rates at Morenci compared with last year's first quarter.

The company expects net unit costs to average $1.95 per pound of copper for the year, updated from a prior estimate of $1.75 per pound.

The revised 5-year production forecast for the Grasberg district reflects an approximate 9 percent reduction for copper and 7 percent for gold.

For the second half of the year, volumes are expected to be approximately 30 percent higher for copper and approximately 50 percent higher for gold compared with the first half.

Capital expenditures are expected to approximate $4.3 billion in 2026 and $4.5 billion in 2027.

The company reached a memorandum of understanding in February with the Government of Indonesia to extend operating rights for the life of the resource. In March, the company submitted an environmental impact statement for a major expansion at the El Abra project in Chile in partnership with CODELCO. The company also commenced a pilot test at Morenci to increase the temperature of stockpiles by applying a heated leaching solution, aiming to scale this innovative leach initiative to 300 million to 400 million pounds per annum in the 2026 to 2027 time frame.