Cleveland-Cliffs Q2 Earnings and Revenues Beat Estimates

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.’s CLF second-quarter 2025 adjusted loss was 50 cents per share.  The figure was narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 68 cents. It had reported earnings of 11 cents in the prior-year quarter.

Revenues fell 3.1% year over year to $4,934 million in the quarter. The top line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4,903.4 million.

Operational Highlights

The company reported Steelmaking revenues of roughly $4.8 billion for the second quarter, down around 2% year over year.

Average net selling price per net ton of steel products was $1,015 in the quarter, down around 9.8% year over year. It missed our estimate of $1,020. 

External sales volumes for steel products were roughly 4.3 million net tons, up around 7.5% year over year. It topped our estimate of 4.2 million net tons.

Financial Position

Cleveland-Cliffs ended the second quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $61 million, up around 5% from the prior quarter. Long-term debt increased 1.7% sequentially to $7,727 million.

As of June 30, 2025, the company had $2.7 billion in total liquidity.

Outlook

The company has revised its full-year 2025 guidance, reflecting updated expectations across certain key financial metrics. Capital expenditures are now projected to be approximately $600 million, down from the previously anticipated $625 million. Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses have also been lowered to around $575 million from the earlier estimate of $600 million. CLF continues to target steel unit cost reductions of approximately $50 per net ton compared to 2024. Depreciation, depletion and amortization (DD&A) expenses have been revised upward to approximately $1.2 billion, primarily due to accelerated depreciation related to idled facilities. Meanwhile, cash pension and Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) payments and contributions remain unchanged at approximately $150 million.

Price Performance

Shares of CLF are down 32.9% over the past year compared with a 23% decline of its industry.

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CLF’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks

CLF currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Better-ranked stocks worth a look in the basic materials space include Royal Gold, Inc. RGLD, Kinross Gold Corporation KGC and Agnico Eagle Mines AEM.

Royal Gold is slated to report second-quarter results on Aug 6. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at $1.70. RGLD beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters, with the average earnings surprise being 9%. RGLD carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Kinross is scheduled to report second-quarter results on July 30. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for KGC’s second-quarter earnings is pegged at 27 cents. KGC beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the last four quarters, with the average earnings surprise being 16.1%. KGC currently carries a Zacks Rank #1.

Agnico Eagle is slated to report second-quarter results on July 30. The consensus estimate for AEM’s earnings is pegged at $1.66. AEM, carrying a Zacks Rank #1, beat the consensus estimate in each of the last four quarters, with the average earnings surprise being 12.3%. 


 

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