Credit Suisse believes copper is a good investment and is therefore raising its outlook on Freeport McMoRan, a mining company. Freeport McMoRan has been upgraded to neutral by the firm. Analysts raised the price target for this stock from $32 to $38. This new price target on the stock has been raised to $38 from $32. Curt Woodworth from Credit Suisse stated in a note that Freeport shares are strongly correlated with the LME copper price. According to our inflation centric thesis, copper prices should be well supported for the medium-term. We believe risk / rewards is now tilted less neutral for the stock. Credit Suisse is confident that copper will continue to perform in this difficult economic environment, even though futures for the metal are currently down about 1%. Woodworth stated that copper prices will remain supported even if supply/demand balances shift to greater surplus due to global demand concerns increasing due to steep increases in interest rates and exhaustion stimulus. Credit Suisse pointed out that the transition to electric cars should provide additional support over time, as they require more copper than conventional internal combustion engines. Credit Suisse remains neutral about Freeport as it seeks to determine “how the company could generate substantial economic value beyond the copper price leverage.” Freeport shares are up about 1% this year, outperforming the S & P 500’s 13.7% decline. —CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed reporting.
