Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) gapped down prior to trading on Monday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $9.94, but opened at $8.94. Cleveland-Cliffs shares last traded at $9.3720, with a volume of 4,916,283 shares trading hands.

The mining company reported ($0.40) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.84 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 7.91% and a negative return on equity of 18.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.92) earnings per share.

Key Stories Impacting Cleveland-Cliffs

Here are the key news stories impacting Cleveland-Cliffs this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Management expects Q2 selling prices roughly $60/ton higher and is targeting about $425M in cash receipts from idled properties — a near‑term pricing tailwind and potential liquidity source. Cliffs expects Q2 selling prices up about $60 a ton as it targets $425M idled property cash
• Positive Sentiment: Q1 revenue beat estimates (revenues ≈ $4.9B) and the GAAP loss narrowed year‑over‑year; adjusted EBITDA was positive ($95M) ex the one‑time energy impact, which supports the argument that operations can improve as costs normalize. Cleveland-Cliffs Reports First-Quarter 2026 Results
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO highlighted a “stronger position” amid geopolitical (Middle East) turmoil and said the company expects to return to profitability, but offered limited new detail on timing — supportive rhetoric but not hard catalysts. Cleveland-Cliffs CEO touts ‘stronger position’ amid Middle East turmoil as it beats Q1 estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: The earnings call/transcript reiterates that several Q1 headwinds were “one‑timers” (notably energy) and management provided prepared slides and commentary — useful for modelling but no immediate new guidance beyond pricing and asset receipts. Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) Q1 2026 Earnings Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: An $80M one‑time energy cost from extreme cold materially reduced Q1 results and was flagged by management as the largest single drag — creates near‑term earnings volatility and investor concern about cost control. Cleveland-Cliffs stock drops on $80 million Q1 energy cost
• Negative Sentiment: Shares sold off despite the beats as markets worry about recurring profitability, management saying it’s “no longer in a hurry” on a POSCO deal, and peers (Nucor, Steel Dynamics) outperforming — signaling strategic doubts and investor impatience. Cleveland-Cliffs down despite narrower-than-expected Q1 loss; says no longer in hurry on Posco deal

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CLF has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $12.80 to $17.00 in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $9.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $12.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.69.

Insider Transactions at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other news, COO Clifford T. Smith sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.46, for a total value of $2,092,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 560,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,863,133.34. This represents a 26.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lourenco Goncalves sold 3,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.42, for a total transaction of $37,260,000.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CLF. Castle Hook Partners LP increased its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 572.4% in the fourth quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 18,083,029 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $240,143,000 after acquiring an additional 15,393,507 shares in the last quarter. Turiya Advisors Asia Ltd purchased a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter worth $96,280,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,391,397 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $722,318,000 after buying an additional 6,447,462 shares during the period. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. increased its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 90.1% during the 4th quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 12,358,230 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $164,117,000 after buying an additional 5,855,830 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 20.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,450,442 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $208,623,000 after buying an additional 4,603,807 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $5.55 billion, a PE ratio of -3.33 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company’s 50 day moving average is $9.56 and its 200-day moving average is $11.78.

Cleveland-Cliffs Company Profile

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc is a leading North American producer of iron ore pellets and flat-rolled steel products. Tracing its roots to 1847, the company has evolved from an iron-ore mining concern in the Great Lakes region into a fully integrated steelmaker. Today, Cleveland-Cliffs operates iron ore mining complexes in Michigan and Minnesota as well as steelmaking and finishing facilities across the United States.

The company’s integrated platform begins with direct control of key raw materials, including iron ore and scrap, and extends through every stage of steel production.