Zacks Research Issues Pessimistic Forecast for CLF Earnings

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) – Research analysts at Zacks Research decreased their Q2 2025 earnings per share estimates for Cleveland-Cliffs in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, May 21st. Zacks Research analyst A. Barman now expects that the mining company will earn ($0.53) per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of ($0.18). The consensus estimate for Cleveland-Cliffs’ current full-year earnings is ($0.79) per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Cleveland-Cliffs’ Q3 2025 earnings at ($0.10) EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at ($0.02) EPS, FY2025 earnings at ($1.57) EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $0.05 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $0.03 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $0.15 EPS.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The mining company reported ($0.92) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.78) by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $4.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative return on equity of 0.59% and a negative net margin of 2.31%. The company’s revenue was down 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.18 EPS.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on CLF. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 target price (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Glj Research lowered their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $14.54 to $12.90 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $11.25 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.02.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Down 6.5%

Cleveland-Cliffs stock opened at $6.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.72 and a beta of 2.03. Cleveland-Cliffs has a fifty-two week low of $6.17 and a fifty-two week high of $17.41. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $7.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.75.

Institutional Trading of Cleveland-Cliffs

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLF. Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Can acquired a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs in the 4th quarter worth about $55,453,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs in the 4th quarter worth about $45,381,000. Slate Path Capital LP boosted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 35.4% in the 4th quarter. Slate Path Capital LP now owns 16,208,000 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $152,355,000 after buying an additional 4,239,000 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs in the 1st quarter worth about $22,696,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,751,789 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $458,267,000 after buying an additional 2,556,332 shares during the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, Director John T. Baldwin purchased 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.70 per share, with a total value of $34,800.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 133,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,159,074.90. This represents a 3.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP James D. Graham sold 120,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.85, for a total value of $822,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 492,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,371,905.65. The trade was a 19.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 23,500 shares of company stock valued at $243,095 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.71% of the company’s stock.

Cleveland-Cliffs Company Profile

Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest flat-rolled steel company and the largest iron ore pellet producer in North America. The company is vertically integrated from mining through iron making, steelmaking, rolling, finishing and downstream with hot and cold stamping of steel parts and components. The company was formerly known as Cliffs Natural Resources Inc and changed its name to Cleveland-Cliffs Inc in August 2017.