Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) Q2 2025 Earnings
How Did CLF Stock React to Q2 2025 Earnings?
S&P 500 over the same 30 days: +1.49%.
Did CLF Beat Earnings? Q2 2025 Results
Yes. Cleveland-Cliffs reported Q2 2025 earnings of $-0.50 a share on Jul 21, 2025, beating the $-0.63 consensus estimate by 20.3%. Revenue was $4.9B against a $4.9B estimate.
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
What Was Cleveland-Cliffs's Outlook in Q2 2025?
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
| Metric | Q2 2025 | Q2 2024 | Year over year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $4.9B | $5.1B | −3.1% |
CLF Revenue by Segment
Figures from SEC filings and company reports. Not investment advice.