Cleveland-Cliffs slumps after quarterly revenue misses estimates

Feb 9 (Reuters) - Cleveland-Cliffs CLF.N shares tumbled in Monday morning trade after the steelmaker's fourth-quarter revenue came in below Wall Street estimates.

CEO Lourenco Goncalves said the company's performance in 2025 was affected by weak production levels in the automotive sector, "an expiring five-year slab contract becoming value-destructive during its last year, and a newly adverse dynamic in the Canadian market."

Despite U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping metal tariffs bolstering U.S. steel spot prices, commercial contracts have lagged, as the industry adjusted to an older pricing index, resulting in lower selling prices during the fourth quarter.

The tariffs further hurt demand in the automotive sector, a major end-market for Cleveland-Cliffs, with several U.S. automakers flagging increasing costs of production.

The company's quarterly revenue marginally decreased to $4.31 billion from a year ago, below analysts' expectations of $4.59 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Its 2025 total revenue also fell to $18.61 billion from $19.19 billion in 2024.

The company, however, posted a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss.

Its adjusted loss was 43 cents per share in the quarter ended December 31, compared with 68 cents a year ago. Analysts on average had expected a loss of 60 cents.

"U.S. auto production remains soft (and deteriorating), Canada is still weak, and neither provided much ballast to results," analyst Gordon Johnson at GLJ Research said.

Cleveland-Cliffs' shares were down 18.8% at $11.96. In 2025, the stock had gained 41.3%.