Glencore Holds Its Output Targets in Relief to Wary Investors
(Bloomberg) — Glencore Plc shares jumped after the company said it’s on track to hit full-year production targets, reassuring investors who were concerned about further operational setbacks.
Glencore, which has repeatedly missed guidance or lowered goals since it listed in 2011 — to the annoyance of some shareholders — said Thursday it’s on track to meet its goals this year, albeit with copper toward the lower end of its range. The firm’s shares rose as much as 6.8%.
Glencore holding its targets is a “relief,” according to RBC Capital Markets.
“Plenty of bearishness heading into these results,” said Ben Davis, an analyst at RBC. “However, Glencore has a had a solid quarter and guidance has been largely narrowed within existing ranges. Still plenty of work to do in the final quarter of the year”
Glencore Investors Question Strategy as Copper Bonanza Eludes Miner
At a time when miners around the world are rushing to produce more copper, Glencore’s production is on track to drop for a fourth straight year. The company will produce roughly 40% less copper this year than it did in 2018.
Still, the firm did not give any updates on its 2026 goals. Anglo American Plc — which jointly owns the Collahuasi copper mine in Chile with Glencore — said Tuesday that it’s reviewing its 2026 Chilean output targets amid problems at the mine.
Glencore traded up 5.3% by 9:06 a.m. in London to reach the highest level since January.
The stock has been buoyed by a surge in copper prices. Glencore’s production numbers come as a series of supply shocks have sent copper to a record, with the industrial metal hitting a high of $11,146 a ton on the London Metal Exchange earlier Wednesday.
These have included a fatal mudslide at Freeport McMoRan Inc.’s massive Grasberg mine in Indonesia and flooding at Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.’s Kamoa-Kakula complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as a rock blast at Codelco’s top mine in Chile. Teck Resources Ltd. also cut output guidance at its flagship operation in Chile.
Glencore said Wednesday that it expects its full-year marketing profits to be around the middle of its long-term guidance range of $2.3 billion to $3.5 billion. The trader is having one of its best ever years in metal trading, but has seen a slump in profits from its energy division.
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