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The Moat Index

Freeport-McMoRan Inc.

FCX · Materials · FY2025 filings · Shallow moat ·

Doesn't clear the bar

58/ 100
Shallow moat

The four filters

Pricing power19

Median gross margin 27.5% over 10y, variable.

Returns on capital85

Median ROIC 18.2%, above the 9% hurdle in 80% of years.

Balance-sheet safety91

Net debt/EBITDA 0.6x, no material interest expense disclosed.

Capital discipline44

Owner earnings trend unclear, share count n/a.

Margin of safety

Above valueOn sale
No price data
Owner earnings (normalized)
$4.4B
Est. intrinsic value / share
—
Recent price
$58.40
Discount to value
No price data

Conservative model: 9% discount rate, 0% assumed growth (capped at 4%), maintenance capex ≈ min(capex, D&A).

20 years of fundamentals

The business, in plain English

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. booked $25.2B of revenue in FY2025 in the Materials sector and kept 26.1% of it as gross profit — a moderate-margin business by that measure. After every other cost, 16.5% of each revenue dollar reached the bottom line.

Across the filed record, revenue grew from $20.9B (FY2011) to $25.2B (FY2025) — about 1.3% a year compounded over 14 years.

It earned 17.4% on invested capital in FY2025, with a median of 18.9% across 19 filed years. The Returns on Capital filter above scores it 85/100.

The balance sheet carried $9.4B of total debt in FY2025 against $4.2B of owner earnings — roughly 2.3 years of owner earnings to retire it all. Balance-Sheet Safety scores it 91/100.

Put together: Balance-Sheet Safety is the strongest of the four filters (91/100) and Pricing Power the weakest (19/100), which is how FCX lands at 58/100 — a Shallow moat.

This breakdown is generated from the filed numbers and sub-scores above — no outside narrative, no estimates. Where a filing doesn’t disclose an input, the sentence that would need it is omitted instead of guessed.

FY2006–FY2025 · 20 fiscal years, normalized from FCX’s SEC filings

RevenueSales, as filed$25.2B FY2025
$0$10B$20B2006201320202025
Gross marginRevenue kept after cost of goods26.1% FY2025
0%2006201320202025
Return on invested capitalOperating profit on the capital employed17.4% FY2025
0%2006201320202025
Owner earningsCash an owner could take out$4.2B FY2025
−$10B$02006201320202025

Gaps in a line mean that item isn’t in FCX’s filings for that year — the series is never interpolated or estimated. The Table view lists every filed value, including operating and net margins, total debt, and share count.

Moat Score history

3 logged readings since Jul 17, 2026 · append-only, never rewritten

Moat Score over timeLast scored reading of each day, on the 0–100 scale58.4 / 100
0406080100WideNarrowShallowNo moatJul 17, 2026

Score history begins Jul 17, 2026 — the record builds from here and can’t be backfilled.

Tier changesSame-methodology crossings of the Wide / Narrow / Shallow bars

None yet — FCX has read Shallow moat for every logged capture since Jul 17, 2026.

Scores are logged append-only and never overwritten — this record can’t be backfilled, which is exactly why it’s worth keeping.

Materials context

#54 of 214 scored Materials companies, ranked by Moat Score.

Nearest peers by Moat Score

  1. #52HCC Warrior Met Coal, Inc.59.0Shallow moat
  2. #53IOSP INNOSPEC INC.58.6Shallow moat
  3. #55VMC VULCAN MATERIALS COMPANY58.2Shallow moat
  4. #56ECL ECOLAB INC.58.1Shallow moat

Compare FCX with its nearest peers →All Materials companies on the Index →

Common questions about FCX

Does Freeport-McMoRan Inc. have an economic moat?
Based on its FY2025 SEC filings, the Moat Index scores Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX) 58.4 out of 100 — a Shallow moat. The four filters behind that score (each 0–100): pricing power 19, returns on capital 85, balance-sheet safety 91, capital discipline 44.
How has FCX's Moat Score changed over time?
The record logs 3 readings since Jul 17, 2026; the latest reads 58.4 out of 100 (shallow moat). No tier changes on record yet. The history is append-only — readings are only ever added, never rewritten.
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Scored from primary SEC filings via the public methodology. Educational only — not a recommendation to buy or sell FCX. See the disclaimer.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX) Moat Score — The Moat Index · Buy Like Buffett