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 (+79.79%) and forward P/E quality (13.71x 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 (+8.33%) 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 | 66.7 | 58.1 |
| AI ranki | #63 | #208 |
| Latest closei | $261.07 | $72.73 |
| 1M returni | -4.98% | +4.81% |
| 6M returni | +51.70% | +16.07% |
| 1Y returni | +79.79% | +57.39% |
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 | $18.01K (+80.1%) started 2025-09-04 | $15.79K (+57.9%) started 2025-09-04 |
| 5Y ago | $25.53K (+155.3%) started 2021-09-07 | $22.36K (+123.6%) started 2021-09-07 |
| 10Y ago | $80.04K (+700.4%) started 2016-09-06 | $81.64K (+716.4%) started 2016-09-06 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | NUE | FCX |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $59.23B | $109.78B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 20.84 | 37.48 |
| Forward P/Ei | 13.71 | 18.49 |
| Price/Salesi | 0.92 | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 1.79 | 4.96 |
| Analyst targeti | $282.81 | $72.05 |
| Target upsidei | +8.33% | -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 | 0.86% | 0.78% |
| Betai | 1.88 | 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 0.31), 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 | +80.12% | +57.87% |
| CAGRi | +80.27% | +57.97% | |
| Volatilityi | 31.73% | 50.91% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 1.87 | 1.07 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 2.91 | 1.47 | |
| Max drawdowni | 18.43% | 24.31% | |
| Current drawdowni | 4.98% | 8.99% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 5.31% | 8.29% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 7.29% | 10.45% | |
| Max daily dropi | 5.95% | 16.95% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 11.68% | 21.34% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +140.79% | +111.34% |
| CAGRi | +19.25% | +16.17% | |
| Volatilityi | 37.50% | 45.31% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.54 | 0.46 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.78 | 0.67 | |
| Max drawdowni | 47.79% | 51.26% | |
| Current drawdowni | 4.98% | 8.99% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 17.48% | 19.13% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 21.37% | 22.45% | |
| Max daily dropi | 11.31% | 16.95% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 18.48% | 24.13% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +542.91% | +642.84% |
| CAGRi | +20.47% | +22.22% | |
| Volatilityi | 36.14% | 48.45% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.57 | 0.56 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.83 | 0.83 | |
| Max drawdowni | 57.21% | 72.59% | |
| Current drawdowni | 4.98% | 8.99% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 16.48% | 22.35% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 20.13% | 26.76% | |
| 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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