The FT writes today on structural challenges in the copper market that are driven by increasing demand from data centres and electrification, and a paucity of future supplies, particularly at scale,

its quite a lengthy piece but worth seeking out by searching ” The hunt for copper to wire the AI boom”.

This quote is typical of the tone of the article:

“There are “shockingly few” major new copper mines in the near-term pipeline, says Albert Mackenzie, a copper analyst at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. Investors are often unenthusiastic, he adds. “

It’s not just that building a new copper mine is challenging, it’s juxtaposing what else you can do with that money”

I have had my eye on copper miner Freeport McMorran FCX US, for sometime.

The share price came under pressure in late September following a fatal accident at one of its operations.
Peak to trough the stock fell by as much as -25.0%, before recovering.

In terms of stock price performance Antofagasta ANTO LN has been the clear winner rallying by +79.57% year to date, whilst FCX is up by a mere +12.60% in 2025.

Indeed ANTO are up by another +3.39% this morning .

However, it’s the underperformance that draws me towards FCX , simply because I feel that the gap with ANTO has to close, through not necessarily in the short term.

Below you can see a valuation table for the large Copper Miners courtesy of RBC Capital Markets .

I find it intriguing that FCX is predicted to see a sharp fall in its PE ratio out to 2027, from 28.80 times today to just 14.6 times in 2027 at current spot prices for copper.

Whilst at the same time RBC forecast that yield between free cash flow and enterprise value for the business will jump form -1.10% now to +9.10% in 2027.

It would seem I am not alone in thinking like this and in the last month the consensus rating among 20 Wall Street analysts that cover FCX has moved from moderate buy to strong buy with a mean price target of $49.00 just over +13.0% above the current price of $42.97.