Why is the Fortescue share price racing ahead of the benchmark on Wednesday?

The Fortescue Ltd (ASX: FMG) share price is charging higher today.

Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) iron ore giant closed trading yesterday for $20.20. As we head into the Wednesday lunch hour, shares are swapping hands for $20.67 apiece, up 2.3%.

That’s well ahead of the 0.9% gains posted by the ASX 200 at this same time.

Here’s what’s catching investor interest today.

Fortescue share price jumps on 23% profit improvement

Investors are bidding up the Fortescue share price following this morning’s release of the company’s half-year results (H1 FY 2026).

Highlights include record-high first-half iron ore shipments of 100.2 million tonnes. That’s up 3% from H1 FY 2025.

And revenue for the six months jumped 10% to US$8.4 billion. This was driven by higher sales volumes and an increase in the Hematite (iron ore) realised price to US$91 per dry metric tonne (dmt).

Pleasingly, costs were lower, with the miner reporting a Hematite C1 unit cost of US$18.64 per wet metric tonne (wmt). That’s down 3% year on year, with management crediting the improvement to an ongoing focus on operational efficiency and cost management.

In other strong growth metrics helping lift the Fortescue share price today, underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$4.5 billion was up 23% from H1 FY 2025.

And on the bottom line, Fortescue’s net profit after tax (NPAT) leapt 23% to US$1.9 billion.

In light of this strong performance, management rewarded passive income investors with a fully franked interim dividend of 62 Aussie cents per share. That’s up 24% from last year’s interim payout.

If you want to bank that Fortescue dividend, you’ll need to own shares at market close this Friday, 27 February. The ASX 200 miner trades ex-dividend on Monday. You can then expect to receive the latest passive income payout on 30 March.

Looking ahead, Fortescue provided full-year FY 2026 guidance for iron ore shipments in the range of 195 million to 205 million tonnes.

What did management say?

Commenting on the results helping boost the Fortescue share price today, Fortescue Metals and Operations CEO Dino Otranto said, “It’s been a standout first half of the financial year.”

And he pointed to Fortescue’s ongoing green energy push as a key driver of the strong results.

“We have the lowest operating cost in the industry, and decarbonisation is pushing that even lower,” Otranto said.

And, like its rival ASX 200 iron ore miners, Fortescue is actively expanding its copper footprint as demand for the red metal sends global copper prices to all-time highs.

“We expect to finalise shortly the acquisition of Alta Copper, strengthening our copper portfolio in Latin America,” Fortescue Growth and Energy CEO Gus Pichot said.

With today’s intraday gains factored in, the Fortescue share price is up 15% in 12 months, not including dividends.

The post Why is the Fortescue share price racing ahead of the benchmark on Wednesday? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.