Cleveland-Cliffs Downgraded by KeyBanc; Q4 EBITDA Estimate Cut to $22M Loss
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Source: Benzinga
- Rating Downgrade: KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Philip Gibbs downgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from Overweight to Sector Weight, reflecting the company's facing higher costs and a richer product mix, which may impact investor confidence.
- EBITDA Estimate Adjustment: The fourth-quarter EBITDA estimate was drastically cut from a profit of $63 million to a loss of $22 million, primarily due to lagging spot pricing and rising costs, indicating pressure on the company's profitability.
- Long-term Outlook Revision: The 2026 EBITDA estimate was reduced from $1.63 billion to $1.33 billion, reflecting higher steel unit costs and a richer mix of auto business, suggesting increasing challenges in market competition for the company.
- Strategic Partnership Potential: Although a potential accretive agreement with POSCO could provide value, the lack of transparency around specific details may affect market expectations for future growth.
Analyst Views on CLF
Wall Street analysts forecast CLF stock price to fall over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for CLF is 12.78 USD with a low forecast of 5.75 USD and a high forecast of 17.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
9 Analyst Rating
2 Buy
5 Hold
2 Sell
Hold
Current: 14.020
Low
5.75
Averages
12.78
High
17.00
Current: 14.020
Low
5.75
Averages
12.78
High
17.00
About CLF
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. is a steel producer with a focus on value-added sheet products, particularly for the automotive industry in North America. The Company is vertically integrated from the mining of iron ore, production of pellets and direct reduced iron, and processing of ferrous scrap through primary steelmaking and downstream finishing, stamping, tooling, and tubing. Its offering includes advanced high-strength steel, hot-dipped galvanized, aluminized, galvalume, electrogalvanized, galvanneal, hot-rolled coil (HRC), cold-rolled coil, plate, grain oriented electrical steel (GOES), non-oriented electrical steel (NOES), stainless steels, tool and die, stamped components, rail, slab and cast ingot. Its Other Businesses primarily include the Tubular and Tooling and Stamping segments that provide customer solutions with carbon and stainless steel tubing products, advanced-engineered solutions, tool design and build, hot- and cold-stamped steel components and complex assemblies.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
