Cleveland-Cliffs slides as investors focus on weak profitability and one-time energy cost hit in Q1

Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) is down 5.4% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: The drop appears tied to the market digesting Cleveland-Cliffs’ first-quarter 2026 report, where results showed a sizable GAAP net loss and relatively modest adjusted EBITDA despite higher revenue. Investors also reacted to management’s disclosure of an $80 million energy-cost spike tied to extreme cold weather, which likely raised concern about near-term margin volatility.

Details:

Cleveland-Cliffs reported Q1 2026 revenue of about $4.9 billion and a GAAP net loss of roughly $229 million (about $0.42 per diluted share).

Adjusted EBITDA was about $95 million, which management said was materially impacted by an approximately $80 million energy-price spike associated with extreme cold weather.

The company indicated it expects sequential improvement and positive free cash flow in Q2 2026, but the market appeared to prioritize current profitability and cash flow pressure.

This could also be because the quarter’s results reinforced investor sensitivity to leverage and steel-market pricing uncertainty, even when headline revenue trends improve.

Sources:

Cleveland-Cliffs (Investor Relations), TradingView, AOL

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 3 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 1 have been purchases and 2 have been sales.

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

LOURENCO GONCALVES (Chairman, President & CEO) sold 3,000,000 shares for an estimated $37,257,300
CLIFFORD T SMITH (EVP & Chief Operating Officer) sold 200,000 shares for an estimated $2,092,080
EDILSON CAMARA purchased 19,700 shares for an estimated $199,626

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard.

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$CLF Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 288 institutional investors add shares of $CLF stock to their portfolio, and 245 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

CASTLE HOOK PARTNERS LP added 15,393,507 shares (+572.4%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $204,425,772
JANE STREET GROUP, LLC added 7,896,522 shares (+671.7%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $104,865,812
D. E. SHAW & CO., INC. added 7,696,432 shares (+264.6%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $102,208,616
TURIYA ADVISORS ASIA LTD added 7,250,000 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $96,280,000
VANGUARD GROUP INC added 6,447,462 shares (+13.4%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $85,622,295
MAPLE ROCK CAPITAL PARTNERS INC. added 5,855,830 shares (+90.1%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $77,765,422
BLACKROCK, INC. added 5,469,342 shares (+11.4%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $72,632,861

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard.

$CLF Analyst Ratings

Wall Street analysts have issued reports on $CLF in the last several months. We have seen 1 firms issue buy ratings on the stock, and 0 firms issue sell ratings.

Here are some recent analyst ratings:

Goldman Sachs issued a "Buy" rating on 10/31/2025

To track analyst ratings and price targets for $CLF, check out Quiver Quantitative's $CLF forecast page.

$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 $12.0.

Here are some recent targets:

Carlos De Alba from Morgan Stanley set a target price of $12.0 on 04/21/2026
Bill Peterson from JP Morgan set a target price of $10.0 on 04/14/2026
Timna Tanners from Wells Fargo set a target price of $9.0 on 03/19/2026
Gordon L. Johnson from GLJ Research set a target price of $9.42 on 03/16/2026
Alexander Hacking from Citigroup set a target price of $13.0 on 02/10/2026
Philip Gibbs from Keybanc set a target price of $13.0 on 11/10/2025
Mike Harris from Goldman Sachs set a target price of $16.0 on 10/31/2025

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.