Al Root

Shares of steel maker Cleveland-Cliffs fell early Monday after a disappointing end to 2025. This year, however, should be better.

On Monday, Cleveland-Cliffs reported an Ebitda loss of $21 million compared with a loss of $81 million a year ago. Ebitda is short for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Sales were $4.3 billion, flat year over year.

Wall Street was looking for a $7 million loss from sales of $4.6 billion.

The steel maker shipped 3.8 million tons of steel in the fourth quarter, roughly flat with a year ago.

Cliffs' stock was down 3.5% in premarket trading at $14.22, while S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively.

For the full year, Cliffs reported Ebitda of $37 million, down from $773 million reported in 2024.

Performance in 2025 was affected by weak auto production, a "value-destructive" slab contract, and a weak Canadian market, said CEO Lourenco Goncalves in a news release. (Steel slabs are an intermediate product that get rolled into coils.)

Things are looking better. "Fortunately, as we started 2026, these negative situations have all improved," added Goncalves. "At the same time, the trade environment in the United States continues to move in a very constructive direction, setting the stage for dramatically improved results this year."

Wall Street sees 2026 Ebitda of $1.5 billion.

Cliffs, like many commodity producers, doesn't provide detailed guidance. It expects to ship about 16.8 million tons of steel in 2026, up from 16.2 million in 2025. Capital spending will be about $700 million, consistent with recent years.

Coming into Monday trading, Cleveland-Cliffs stock was up 47% over the past 12 months. Shares have been boosted by higher commodity prices, which have been boosted by President Donald Trump's import tariffs on steel and aluminum. Benchmark steel prices are about $975 per ton, up from about $760 a year ago.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@barrons.com

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February 09, 2026 07:22 ET (12:22 GMT)

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