Finance. When will Freeport-McMoRan earnings bounce back? Investors have become increasingly uncomfortable with their views on Freeport-McMoran earnings going forward, having reversed initial calls for a quarterly profit in the third quarter and having slashed their views on full-year 2015 earnings by more than 80%. Even 2016 full-year projections have gotten cut almost in half, and the stock price hasn't behaved well either, falling another 25% since mid-July. Freeport-McMoRan's second-quarter results were primarily responsible for most of the stock's losses during the quarter. Revenue plunged a greater-than-expected 23% in the second quarter, and the company took a huge oil-and-gas impairment charge that resulted in a massive net loss of $1.85 billion. Even after adjusting for the impairment, year-over-year earnings per share fell by more than three-quarters, and although that was actually slightly better than many had expected, it nevertheless put a negative spin on Freeport's prospects.