Freeport (NYSE:FCX) Offers Better Risk/Reward Than Alcoa (NYSE:AA) Says Barclays (NYSE:BCS)

Even though Alcoa (NYSE:AA) was able to exceed expectations with their latest earnings report, much of that was the result of favorable currency fluctuations and seasonal moves, according to Barclays (NYSE:BCS)

Barclays says, "Alcoa's downstream operations showed little improvement over 3Q in either volumes or margins. While much of this result was due to seasonality and negative currency impacts, management's expectations for 1Q appear to be largely flat, with some market pickup hoped for in flat-rolled products. In our opinion, despite the significant relative outperformance, we continue to believe shares of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX) offer a better risk/reward than Alcoa."

Barclays reiterates an "Equalweight" on Alcoa, which was trading at $16.24, down $0.09, or 0.55 percent, as of 2:03 PM EST. Barclays boosted their price target on Alcoa from $15 to $17. Freeport was trading at $122.11, gaining $0.81, 0.67 percent.