Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: $8.28B
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Average Volume (3M): 13.08M
• Price to Earnings (P/E): ―
• Beta (1Y): 1.74
• Revenue Growth: -6.76%
• EPS Growth: -255.94%
• Country: US
• Employees: 30,000
• Sector: Basic Materials
• Sector Strength: 58
• Industry: Steel
• EPS (TTM): -0.45
• Shares Outstanding: 569,707,460
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 14,678,080
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 13,078,155
• PEG Ratio: 0.02
• Price to Book (P/B): 0.68
• Price to Sales (P/S): 0.24
• P/FCF Ratio: -7.65
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: 1.92
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: 0.85
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: -17.26
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: -48.22
• 1Y Price Target: $12.86
• Price Target Upside: -11.49% Downside
• Rating Consensus: Hold
• Number of Analyst Covering: 9
• EPS Forecast (FY): N/A
• Revenue Forecast (FY): N/A

• Rating: 54 Neutral
• Price Target: $14.00 ▼(-3.65% Downside)

Cleveland-Cliffs' overall stock score reflects significant financial challenges, particularly in profitability and leverage, which weigh heavily on the score. However, positive developments from the earnings call, including improved EBITDA and strategic partnerships, provide some optimism. Technical indicators show moderate strength, but valuation remains a concern due to negative earnings and lack of dividends.

Positive Factors

Vertical Integration

Owning upstream iron ore production gives Cleveland‑Cliffs durable control over a key input, reducing exposure to third‑party ore cost spikes and improving margin capture across the value chain. This vertical integration supports long‑term cost competitiveness and supply security for its steel operations.

Large, Multi‑Year Defense Contract

A five‑year fixed‑price government contract materially increases predictable revenue from a high‑quality customer, supporting utilization and investment planning. The strategic nature of defense supply strengthens customer diversification and provides medium‑term cash flow visibility independent of cyclical end markets.

Debt Maturity Extension

Extending bond maturities meaningfully reduces near‑term refinancing risk and buys time to execute cost saves and asset sales. This structural relief improves liquidity runway, allowing management to prioritize deleveraging and operational restructuring without immediate capital markets pressure.

Negative Factors

High Leverage

Elevated leverage limits financial flexibility and increases sensitivity to steel price cycles and interest costs. With a debt/equity ratio >1, the company faces higher servicing burdens that constrain investments, raise refinancing vulnerability, and reduce resilience to prolonged market softness.

Negative Profitability Margins

Sustained negative gross and net margins indicate structural cost or pricing mismatches that erode cash generation. Until unit costs, mix, or pricing are fixed, profitability remains fragile, undermining the firm's ability to self‑fund capex, pay down debt, or absorb another downturn in demand.

Weak Operating Cash Flow

Negative operating and free cash flows create reliance on financing or asset sales to meet obligations and fund investments. This undermines sustainable deleveraging, limits reinvestment in productivity projects, and makes execution of strategic plans contingent on continued access to external capital or one‑off disposals.

Cleveland-Cliffs Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. operates as a flat-rolled steel producer in North America. The company offers carbon steel products, such as hot-rolled, cold-rolled, electrogalvanized, hot-dip galvanized, hot-dip galvannealed, aluminized, enameling, and advanced high-strength steel products; stainless steel products; plates; and grain oriented and non-oriented electrical steel products. It also provides tubular components, including carbon steel, stainless steel, and electric resistance welded tubing. In addition, the company offers tinplate products, such as electrolytic tin coated and chrome coated sheet, and tin mill products; tooling and sampling; raw materials; ingots, rolled blooms, and cast blooms; and hot-briquetted iron products. Further, it owns five iron ore mines in Minnesota and Michigan. The company serves automotive, infrastructure and manufacturing, distributors and converters, and steel producers. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. was formerly known as Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. and changed its name to Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. in August 2017. The company was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.

How the Company Makes Money

Cleveland-Cliffs generates revenue primarily through the sale of iron ore pellets and steel products. The company has a strong focus on vertical integration, producing iron ore, which is then used in its steelmaking operations. Key revenue streams include the sales of flat-rolled steel, which is sold to various industries including automotive and construction. Additionally, Cleveland-Cliffs benefits from long-term supply agreements with major customers, ensuring consistent demand for its products. The company also capitalizes on market fluctuations in steel prices and iron ore demand, which can significantly impact its earnings. Strategic partnerships and acquisitions, such as the purchase of AK Steel and other steelmaking facilities, further enhance its market position and revenue potential.

Cleveland-Cliffs Financial Statement Overview

Summary

Cleveland-Cliffs faces significant financial challenges, with declining profitability and increasing leverage. The company must focus on improving operational efficiency and managing its debt levels to enhance financial stability. While revenue growth has been strong recently, sustaining this trend will be crucial for future success.

Income Statement

Cleveland-Cliffs has experienced significant revenue volatility, with a recent TTM revenue growth of 89.4% following a decline in prior years. Margins have deteriorated, with a negative gross profit margin of -5.07% and a net profit margin of -9.00% in the TTM period, indicating challenges in cost management and profitability. The company needs to address these issues to stabilize its financial performance.

Balance Sheet

The company's debt-to-equity ratio has increased to 1.41 in the TTM period, reflecting higher leverage and potential financial risk. Return on equity has turned negative at -27.43%, highlighting profitability challenges. However, the equity ratio remains stable at around 26.93%, suggesting a balanced asset structure.

Cash Flow

Cleveland-Cliffs' cash flow situation is concerning, with negative operating cash flow and free cash flow in the TTM period. The free cash flow to net income ratio is positive at 1.68, indicating some efficiency in converting net income to cash, but overall cash flow growth has been inconsistent, posing liquidity risks.

Breakdown	TTM	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	Dec 2022	Dec 2021	Dec 2020
Income Statement
Total Revenue	18.62B	19.18B	22.00B	22.99B	20.44B	5.35B
Gross Profit	-919.00M	70.00M	1.39B	2.52B	4.53B	252.00M
EBITDA	-329.00M	378.00M	1.86B	3.11B	5.04B	353.00M
Net Income	-1.68B	-754.00M	399.00M	1.33B	2.99B	-122.00M
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	20.29B	20.95B	17.54B	18.75B	18.98B	16.77B
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	66.00M	54.00M	198.00M	26.00M	48.00M	112.00M
Total Debt	8.04B	7.77B	3.59B	4.70B	5.80B	5.99B
Total Liabilities	14.58B	14.05B	9.41B	10.71B	13.20B	13.69B
Stockholders Equity	5.47B	6.66B	7.89B	7.79B	5.49B	2.76B
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	-1.55B	-590.00M	1.59B	1.48B	2.08B	-786.00M
Operating Cash Flow	-921.00M	105.00M	2.23B	2.42B	2.79B	-261.00M
Investing Cash Flow	-3.13B	-3.21B	-591.00M	-936.00M	-1.38B	-2.04B
Financing Cash Flow	4.08B	2.97B	-1.47B	-1.51B	-1.47B	2.06B

Cleveland-Cliffs Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Positive
• Last Price: 14.53
• 50DMA: Positive
• 100DMA: Positive
• 200DMA: Positive
• MACD: Positive
• RSI: Neutral
• STOCH: Neutral

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For CLF, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 14.53 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 13.83, above the 50-day MA of 13.31, and above the 200-day MA of 10.81, indicating a bullish trend. The MACD of 0.30 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 57.98 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 44.93 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for CLF.

Cleveland-Cliffs Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
NUE	76 Outperform	$43.47B	24.80	8.44%	1.34%	1.66%	-31.25%
MT	71 Outperform	$41.74B	17.23	4.72%	1.03%	-4.51%	―
STLD	68 Neutral	$29.04B	24.15	13.25%	1.11%	-1.49%	-31.82%
CMC	67 Neutral	$9.17B	21.10	10.51%	1.02%	-1.61%	-81.36%
GGB	63 Neutral	$7.99B	16.69	5.21%	2.92%	-2.53%	-36.08%
Sector *	61 Neutral	$10.43B	7.12	-0.05%	2.87%	2.86%	-36.73%
CLF	54 Neutral	$8.28B	-4.27	-27.16%	―	-6.76%	-255.94%

Cleveland-Cliffs Corporate Events

Cleveland-Cliffs Appoints Edilson Camara to Board

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. announced the appointment of Edilson Camara to its Board of Directors, effective November 12, 2025. Mr. Camara, deemed independent by the Board, will join the Compensation and Organization Committee and receive compensation similar to other nonemployee directors. The company will also enter into an Indemnification Agreement with Mr. Camara, ensuring protection against liabilities incurred during his board service.

The most recent analyst rating on (CLF) stock is a Hold with a $11.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Cleveland-Cliffs stock, see the CLF Stock Forecast page.