Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO) shares traded lower by 1.87% on Thursday's session, fresh off the news that management has decided to cut its dividend to $2.25 per share, down from $4.17 a year earlier. As it is natural for commodity-based businesses to fluctuate in both stock price and business fundamentals wildly along with the swings in prices of the underlying commodities they operate within, Rio Tinto's profits have been significantly affected by Iron Ore's price decline for the better half of the year 2022.
A reported 38% decline in year-over-year earnings, as shown in their latest press release of results, and the segmented highlight of revenues being derived mostly from China (to 53% as of 2022) sheds some light on what is going on within the business.
