Cleveland-Cliffs gains as investors refocus on tariff tailwinds and upcoming earnings

Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) is up 8.0% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: The move appears tied to a rebound in steel shares as investors look ahead to Cleveland-Cliffs’ October 19, 2026 earnings report and revisit management’s earlier outlook for stronger second-half results. This could also be because the market is putting more weight on domestic steel pricing and tariff support after a recent stretch of company-specific concern around its Canadian exposure.

Details:

Cleveland-Cliffs said it will report third-quarter 2026 results before the market opens on October 19, giving traders a near-term catalyst.

In its second-quarter 2026 release, the company said selling prices, shipment volumes, and costs were improving, and it expected its second-half earnings performance to be the strongest since 2021.

Cleveland-Cliffs has said North American automotive is its largest end market, and it has argued that Section 232 steel tariffs support a more balanced domestic market for its products.

Recent attention on tariff-related layoffs and idled production in Canada may have pressured sentiment earlier, so today’s jump may reflect some reversal as investors refocus on U.S. steel fundamentals and the upcoming earnings event.

Sources:

Cleveland-Cliffs, SEC, AP

Disclaimer: This price movement analysis was generated with the help of AI. Please double-check the information provided for mistakes.

$CLF Insider Trading Activity

$CLF insiders have traded $CLF stock on the open market 1 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 0 have been purchases and 1 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $CLF stock by insiders over the last 6 months:

CELSO L JR GONCALVES (EVP, CFO) sold 214,308 shares for an estimated $2,874,641

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard. You can access data on insider stock transactions through the Quiver Quantitative API insider transaction endpoint.

$CLF Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 264 institutional investors add shares of $CLF stock to their portfolio, and 252 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

MAPLE ROCK CAPITAL PARTNERS INC. removed 17,662,400 shares (-85.1%) from their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $165,849,936
SLATE PATH CAPITAL LP added 9,166,100 shares (+47.6%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $86,069,679
SIXTH STREET PARTNERS MANAGEMENT COMPANY, L.P. added 7,897,840 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $74,160,717
TURIYA ADVISORS ASIA LTD removed 7,655,711 shares (-100.0%) from their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $71,887,126
POINTSTATE CAPITAL LP added 6,582,026 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $61,805,224
AVALA GLOBAL LP added 6,211,390 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $58,324,952
ENCOMPASS CAPITAL ADVISORS LLC added 5,113,625 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $48,016,938

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard. You can access data on hedge funds moves and 13F filings through the Quiver Quantitative API 13F endpoint.

$CLF Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $CLF recently. We have seen 7 analysts offer price targets for $CLF in the last 6 months, with a median target of $11.5.

Here are some recent targets:

Timna Tanners from Wells Fargo set a target price of $9.0 on 07/09/2026
Lawson Winder from B of A Securities set a target price of $11.5 on 07/09/2026
Alexander Hacking from Citigroup set a target price of $10.0 on 07/07/2026
Carlos De Alba from Morgan Stanley set a target price of $12.5 on 06/22/2026
Bill Peterson from JP Morgan set a target price of $13.0 on 06/10/2026
Gordon L. Johnson from GLJ Research set a target price of $15.01 on 06/09/2026
Richard Garchitorena from Barclays set a target price of $9.0 on 05/22/2026

This article is not financial advice. See Quiver Quantitative's disclaimers for more information. Note that there may be inaccuracies due to mistakes in ticker-mapping, and other anomalies.