NUE vs FCX Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Compare Nucor's domestic steel production and recycling model against Freeport-McMoRan's global copper mining operations.
Use this Nucor vs Freeport-McMoRan comparison to evaluate the key differences across valuation, growth, profitability, and risk before making an investment decision.
NUE holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. NUE leads on both 1-year return (+88.88%) and forward P/E quality (12.32x vs 18.49x for FCX), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. On fundamentals, NUE is growing revenue faster (23.00%), while FCX maintains the higher operating margin (33.40%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for NUE (+10.42%) than for FCX (-5.76%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
| Metric | NUE | FCX |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 69.9 | 60.0 |
| AI ranki | #32 | #79 |
| Latest closei | $258.11 | $65.18 |
| 1M returni | +4.51% | -10.20% |
| 3M returni | +4.26% | +4.12% |
| 6M returni | +20.45% | +6.76% |
| 1Y returni | +88.88% | +59.83% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | NUE | FCX |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $18.64K (+86.4%) started 2025-10-23 | $15.81K (+58.1%) started 2025-10-23 |
| 5Y ago | $26.25K (+162.5%) started 2021-10-25 | $18.44K (+84.4%) started 2021-10-25 |
| 10Y ago | $80.92K (+709.2%) started 2016-10-24 | $77.04K (+670.4%) started 2016-10-24 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | NUE | FCX |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $58.56B | $109.78B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 20.58 | 37.48 |
| Forward P/Ei | 12.32 | 18.49 |
| Price/Salesi | 0.92 | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 1.78 | 4.96 |
| Analyst targeti | $285.00 | $72.05 |
| Target upsidei | +10.42% | -5.76% |
| Metric | NUE | FCX |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 23.00% | -7.30% |
| Earnings growthi | 93.80% | 28.10% |
| EPS growthi | +93.80% | +28.10% |
| FCF margini | +1.89% | +8.35% |
| Operating margini | 15.67% | 33.40% |
| Profit margini | 7.99% | 11.39% |
| ROIC proxyi | 14.55% | 14.75% |
| Return on equityi | 14.55% | 14.75% |
| Dividend yieldi | 0.87% | 0.78% |
| Payout ratioi | 17.78% | 29.56% |
| Dividend growth streaki | No increase yet | No increase yet |
| Betai | 1.85 | 1.38 |
| Debt/equityi | 30.51 | 32.15 |
| Current ratioi | 2.51 | 2.07 |
| Quick ratioi | 1.28 | 0.80 |
Over the past year, NUE and FCX have moved weakly in the same direction (correlation of 0.33), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | NUE | FCX |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +86.43% | +58.09% |
| CAGRi | +86.59% | +58.19% | |
| Volatilityi | 31.53% | 47.50% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 2.00 | 1.11 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 3.11 | 1.61 | |
| Max drawdowni | 18.43% | 24.31% | |
| Current drawdowni | 6.05% | 18.43% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 5.55% | 7.40% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 7.58% | 9.65% | |
| Max daily dropi | 6.32% | 12.62% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 11.68% | 19.09% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +148.70% | +74.69% |
| CAGRi | +20.01% | +11.82% | |
| Volatilityi | 37.23% | 44.93% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.56 | 0.37 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.81 | 0.54 | |
| Max drawdowni | 47.79% | 51.26% | |
| Current drawdowni | 6.05% | 18.43% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 17.41% | 19.25% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 21.33% | 22.48% | |
| Max daily dropi | 11.31% | 16.95% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 18.48% | 24.13% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +555.90% | +601.04% |
| CAGRi | +20.70% | +21.51% | |
| Volatilityi | 36.19% | 48.27% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.58 | 0.55 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.84 | 0.81 | |
| Max drawdowni | 57.21% | 72.59% | |
| Current drawdowni | 6.05% | 18.43% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 16.52% | 22.40% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 20.15% | 26.77% | |
| Max daily dropi | 14.51% | 18.06% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 22.08% | 34.61% |
| Category | NUE | FCX |
|---|---|---|
| Company | NUE | FCX |
| Sector | Basic Materials | Basic Materials |
| Industry | Steel | Copper |
| Core business | Nucor Corporation engages in the manufacture and sale of steel and steel products. | Freeport-McMoRan Inc. engages in the mining of mineral properties in North America, South America, and Indonesia. |
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