Copper Hits Record Highs on AI Data Center Demand; Three US Stocks to Watch

Copper prices have been driven by a confluence of supply and demand pressures that have pushed the market to the brink of all-time highs. On the supply side, Congo's restrictions on copper concentrate exports, disruptions at mines and smelters, and declining spot-market inventories have created a tightening environment. On the demand side, three structural forces are pulling: AI data centers require significant copper for power and cooling infrastructure; power grid upgrades to support renewable energy and electrification are copper-intensive; and broader electrification of vehicles and industrial processes adds persistent long-term demand.

The three stocks examined here—Freeport-McMoRan, Southern Copper, and BHP—represent three different bets on copper's price trajectory. Freeport-McMoRan, with major assets in US mines and Indonesia's Grasberg, exhibits the highest earnings elasticity to price swings; its Q1 realized price of $5.78 per pound and cost of $1.91 per pound show how wide margins become when spot prices surge. Southern Copper's advantage lies in its concentrated copper exposure and extremely low cash costs after byproduct credits ($0.05 per pound in Q2), which means a high percentage of revenue above costs flows to profit—the company projects 2026 EPS growth of 49% to $7.66. BHP, diversified across iron ore, coal, and potash, sees copper now account for 55% of EBITDA and become its largest single profit source ($18.19 billion in the latest year), but its diversification dampens both upside and downside elasticity to copper-only price movements.