What happened
Even the price of copper rising to its highest level since June can't keep the bears away from copper producer Turquoise Hill Resources (TRQ) today. Apparently, the challenges that the company is facing at the Oyu Tolgoi mine, as well as pessimism from Wall Street, is motivating investors to exit their positions today.
As of 11:10 a.m. EDT, shares of Turquoise Hill had fallen 17.6%.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
Providing a third-quarter 2021 production update yesterday, Turquoise Hill reported that funding requirements for Oyu Tolgoi will be steeper than what it had previously estimated. In July, the company forecast an incremental funding requirement for the asset located in Mongolia. Yesterday, however, it said that it now expects this to be more in the neighborhood of $3.6 billion due to "underground delays and open-pit metal deferrals."
In response to the company's report yesterday, analysts are sharing a bearish outlook on the stock today. For one, Canaccord Genuity downgraded Turquoise Hill's stock to sell from hold, cutting its price target to 14 Canadian dollars ($11.30) from CA$19, according to The Fly. Scotiabank also turned sour on the stock, downgrading it to sector perform from outperform, while TD Securities downgraded the stock to fold from speculative buy and reducing the price target to CA$20 from CA$29.
Now what
Between the higher price tag that the company thinks it's now facing with funding requirements for Oyu Tolgoi and the spate of bearish sentiment from analysts, it's no wonder that the stock is plunging today. While Turquoise Hill is a recognizable name among copper investors, the company's update yesterday is concerning and prospective copper investors may be better off considering some of its peers.
