Several Milestones Remain Before Freeport-McMoRan Can Turn The Corner

Freeport-McMoRan Inc FCX analyst Anthony Young, of Macquarie Research, offered a reassuring comment on the stock Monday: "Getting Close to Turning the Corner."

The note and sentiment followed recent meetings between investors and Freeport CFO Kathleen Quirk.

"With the completion of $4.2 billion of asset sales, we believe that the company is close to turning the corner but several milestones remain, which will ultimately determine how the stock will trend over the near-term," Quirk said.

Quirk continued, "Over the medium- to long-term, we believe that the company should be able to take advantage of the attractive copper price environment that we foresee."

Quirk said Freeport needs to come to a resolution related to issues in Indonesia.

"Once the Indonesia matter is settled, we believe that the shares may begin to look attractive to investors. In all likelihood, we believe an equity issuance will occur, in order to alleviate some of the debt, and at some point in the future, the energy assets will be sold," the Macquarie note suggested.

For now, Quirk and Macquarie hold a Neutral rating on $10 price target on shares of Freeport-McMoRan.