Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $14.73, but opened at $13.10. Cleveland-Cliffs shares last traded at $12.4980, with a volume of 17,570,837 shares changing hands.

Key Headlines Impacting Cleveland-Cliffs

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 adjusted EPS beat consensus: Cleveland-Cliffs reported adjusted EPS of ($0.43), beating the consensus loss forecast (~$0.62) and improving from ($0.68) a year ago — a sign of margin recovery versus prior periods. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Management highlighted operational fixes and 2026 upside: all assets are now operational, management expects higher shipments in 2026 (roughly +3% vs. 2025), and keeps 2026 capex at about $700M — plus the company reported healthy liquidity (~$3.3B). Those factors support a recovery in free cash flow if steel pricing and utilization improve. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Full disclosure and slides available: the earnings press release, slide deck and conference-call materials are posted (useful for modeling recoveries in shipments, pricing and capex assumptions). Investors should review the slide deck and call transcript for margin/cash-flow sensitivity. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue missed estimates and remains weak: Q4 revenue was $4.31B vs. consensus ~ $4.60B (a ~6% miss) and revenue was roughly flat y/y, which undermined the top‑line recovery narrative. That miss was the primary near-term catalyst for the selloff. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction and partnership uncertainty: shares experienced a sharp post‑earnings selloff as investors focused on the revenue miss and wanted clearer confirmation/timing on the proposed POSCO equity partnership — management was optimistic but provided few concrete near‑term details. Read More.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on CLF shares. Bank of America boosted their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $12.50 to $14.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $12.80 to $17.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Monday. KeyCorp cut shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Glj Research raised their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $5.75 to $9.52 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cleveland-Cliffs has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.70.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The company has a market capitalization of $6.09 billion, a PE ratio of -3.62 and a beta of 1.93. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.25.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The mining company reported ($0.43) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.62) by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.60 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 9.00% and a negative return on equity of 20.02%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.68) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Cleveland-Cliffs

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 0.9% in the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 99,649 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,216,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 0.6% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 152,009 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,855,000 after purchasing an additional 943 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 33,118 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares during the last quarter. Whitcomb & Hess Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Whitcomb & Hess Inc. now owns 26,752 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 973 shares during the period. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,185 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $242,000 after buying an additional 1,037 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

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.