Freeport-McMoRan reported third quarter net income attributable to common stock of $1.2 billion, or $0.81 a share, and adjusted net income of $1.3 billion, or $0.88 a share, on revenue of $7.546 billion, up from $6.972 billion a year earlier. Reuters reported the adjusted figure beat the LSEG analyst consensus of $0.81 a share. The beat was a price story: the average realized copper price rose to $6.54 a pound from $4.68 a year earlier, while consolidated copper production fell to 832 million pounds and copper sales fell to 749 million pounds on lower operating rates at PT Freeport Indonesia during the Grasberg Block Cave ramp up.
Grasberg is recovering from the September 2025 external mud rush incident, which the company charged with $101 million of after tax net charges in the quarter for idle facility and restoration costs. Operations at the PTFI smelter recommenced in late August 2026. Reuters reported Freeport expects Grasberg to reach about 80 percent of capacity by mid 2027 and approach full capacity by the end of 2027, so the volume recovery is a 2027 story, not a fourth quarter one. Gold sales of 105,000 ounces were hit by shipment and refining timing in Indonesia, with about 60,000 ounces of refined gold sales shifting into the fourth quarter.
Costs are the offset. Consolidated unit net cash costs averaged $2.07 a pound of copper in the quarter, up from $1.40 a year earlier on lower Indonesian volumes and higher energy and consumables costs, and are expected to average $1.90 a pound for 2026. Operating cash flow was $2.0 billion in the quarter and is expected to reach about $8.5 billion for 2026 at assumed fourth quarter prices of $6.50 a pound for copper, $4,000 an ounce for gold and $32.00 a pound for molybdenum. Capital spending is expected at about $4.4 billion for the year, including $3.0 billion for major projects. Consolidated sales guidance for 2026 is about 3.0 billion pounds of copper, 649,000 ounces of gold and 93 million pounds of molybdenum.
Growth options sit behind the recovery. Freeport flagged scaling its leach and technology initiatives in the Americas, potential brownfield expansions in the United States and a potential major expansion at El Abra in Chile, and Reuters reported a fourth quarter investment decision is expected on the Bagdad mine expansion in Arizona, which could add 200 million to 250 million pounds of annual copper production at an estimated capital cost of $4.5 billion. The balance sheet carries $9.4 billion of consolidated debt against $4.3 billion of cash at September 30, and the company bought back 1.4 million shares for $102 million in the quarter. Copper miners rose 3.89 percent on the day in the market tables, with copper itself up 0.21 percent to $6.64 a pound, so the sector move was an earnings and recovery read rather than a fresh commodity spike.