Cleveland-Cliffs Inc
Q2 2025 Earnings
Market Reaction
S&P 500 over the same 30 days: +1.49%.
Did CLF Beat Earnings? Q2 2025 Results
Cleveland-Cliffs delivered a better-than-feared second quarter, posting an adjusted loss of $0.50 per diluted share against a consensus estimate of $0.63, a beat of 20.32%, while revenue of $4.93 billion edged ahead of the $4.90 billion Wall Street expected, though it still fell 3.1% from a year ago. The clearest driver of the sequential improvement was the company's footprint optimization push, which helped swing adjusted EBITDA to positive $97 million from a loss of $174 million in Q1, even as $323 million in non-recurring charges tied to idled facilities weighed heavily on GAAP results, producing a net loss of $483 million. Record steel shipments of 4.3 million net tons provided volume support, though average net selling price declined to $1,015 per net ton from $1,125 in Q2 2024. Looking ahead, management trimmed full-year capital expenditure guidance to roughly $600 million and is actively exploring sales of noncore assets, including idled mills, to accelerate debt reduction and sharpen its operational focus into the back half of 2025.
- Record steel shipments of 4.3 million net tons in Q2 2025
- Steel unit cost reductions of $15 per net ton compared to Q1 2025
- Footprint optimization initiatives generating positive cost and revenue impact
- Inventory reductions drove meaningful working capital release
- Adjusted EBITDA improvement of $271 million quarter-over-quarter
“Our second quarter results demonstrate that the footprint optimization initiatives announced a few months ago are already generating a positive impact on both costs and revenues. Our good cost performance in Q2 will be even further amplified into Q3 and Q4, with further expected improvements in adjusted EBITDA as a result. In Q2 we also further reduced inventories, which drove a meaningful release in working capital during the quarter.”
Cleveland-Cliffs CEO, on the earnings call
Forward Guidance & Outlook
Cleveland-Cliffs updated its full-year 2025 guidance: capital expenditures lowered to approximately $600 million (from $625 million); SG&A expenses lowered to approximately $575 million (from $600 million); steel unit cost reductions maintained at approximately $50 per net ton compared to 2024; depreciation, depletion and amortization increased to approximately $1.2 billion (from $1.1 billion) primarily due to accelerated depreciation from idled facilities; and cash pension and OPEB payments maintained at approximately $150 million. Management expects further improvements in adjusted EBITDA in Q3 and Q4 as cost reductions from footprint optimization accelerate. The expiration of the five-year Indiana Harbor slab supply contract within five months is expected to remove an EBITDA drag.
CLF YoY Financials
CLF Revenue by Segment
Figures from SEC filings and company reports. Not investment advice.