The Fortescue Ltd (ASX: FMG) share price is on the slide again on Friday morning.
At the time of writing, the mining giant's shares are down 2.5% to $15.47.
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What's going on with Fortescue shares?
The miner's shares are under pressure today after weakness in the resources sector offset some big leadership news.
In respect to the latter, Fortescue has announced a refinement of its leadership structure. This will see Dino Otranto, CEO of Metals and Operations, assume an expanded role to include operational responsibility for global electrification and decarbonisation and production of hydrogen products.
In addition, Agustin (Gus) Pichot has been appointed Fortescue's CEO Growth and Energy. This is effective 1 July 2025.
Pichot will be responsible for the company's green energy development and growth projects. The company notes that since joining in 2018, he has served as President Latin America, developing Fortescue's mining, energy and infrastructure business. Most recently, Pichot has been responsible for reviewing and streamlining Fortescue's global project portfolio.
At the same time, Fortescue has announced the retirement of Mark Hutchinson and Shelley Robertson.
Hutchinson will retire as Energy CEO but will continue to support Fortescue in a global marketing capacity for the next year, serving as senior adviser to the board. Whereas Shelley Robertson, Fortescue's chief operating officer, is retiring from her executive role to pursue non-executive director opportunities.
Commenting on the changes, Metals and Operations CEO, Dino Otranto, said:
This new Leadership cements our One Fortescue commitment to operate as an aligned team driving innovation, delivering value, and accelerating our transition to a successful and profitable green future.
Should you invest?
The team at Bell Potter doesn't think investors should be rushing in to buy Fortescue shares.
In response to news that the ramp up of Iron Bridge has been delayed, its analysts have retained their hold rating and cut their price target to $15.87 (from $16.79). It said:
This is a substantial delay compared with the most recent guidance and compromises FMG's objective of increasing the quality and Fe grade of its overall product suite. In terms of our modelled assumptions, this results in higher grade and quality discounts being forecast for longer. The updated ramp-up guidance is also lower than our prior production forecasts, also resulting in minor downgrades.
Bell Potter has trimmed its earnings estimates to reflect this. It adds:
EPS changes in this report are: FY25: 0%; FY26: -7% and FY27: -16%. FMG's core iron ore operations are maintaining a steady performance, but the iron ore price, Iron Bridge production and Fortescue Energy projects all have a subdued outlook. We tweak our FY26 and FY27 dividend forecasts lower, reducing share price support. Our NPV-based Target Price is lowered 5%, to $15.87/sh. We retain our Hold recommendation.
