$Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF.US)$ shares are trading 22% higher Wednesday after the company announced it missed Q3 earnings and sales estimates on Monday.
For Q3, CLF the company had an adjusted loss of 33 cents per share. This compares to the adjusted earnings of 54 cents in the prior-year quarter. Loss per share was wider than the analyst consensus estimate of a 31-cent loss.
Q3 revenues fell 18.5% to $4.6 million in the quarter from the previous year quarter. The top line missed the analyst consensus estimate of $4.7 million.
Cliffs’ Chairman, President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said, “In Q3, weaker demand and pricing drove tighter margins, and ultimately led us to temporarily idle our Cleveland #6 blast furnace. We achieved our lowest unit cost since 2021, exceeding our already aggressive cost reduction targets, but that was not enough to offset the negative impact of two of our top four automotive clients who continue to underperform their own expectations. Due to our high exposure to the automotive sector, Cliffs was more affected than our competitors."
On Tuesday, the company received a “tactical” rating (or external factors vs the company itself) upgrade to buy from hold.
Seaport Research analyst Martin Englert upgraded Cleveland-Cliffs with a $16.50 per share target price, up around 20% after Monday’s close.
