The steel producer reported an adjusted loss of $0.92 per share for the three months ended March 31, while analysts expected it to post a loss of $0.83 per share.

Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) stock fell 9.4% in extended trading on Wednesday after the company reported a bigger-than-expected loss and said it would pause operations at some plants to cut losses.

The steel producer reported an adjusted loss of $0.92 per share for the three months ended March 31, while analysts expected it to post a loss of $0.83 per share, according to FinChat data.

Its revenue of $4.63 billion was in line with estimates.

The Cleveland-based firm’s first-quarter net loss was $495 million, or $1.00 per share, compared with $67 million, or $0.14 per share, a year earlier.

The company said that between March and May of 2025, it decided to fully or partially idle six
facilities to optimize its footprint, reposition away from loss-making operations, and release
excess working capital.

Cleveland-Cliffs expects to save over $300 million annually after pausing operations at these plants.

“This will drive meaningful fixed cost savings and sharpen our focus on our core strength: supplying steel to the automotive industry,” CEO Lourenco Goncalves said.

The company’s steel products sales in the first quarter rose to 4.14 million tonnes from 3.94 million tonnes a year earlier.

The Cleveland-based firm also said that President Donald Trump’s import tariffs on steel and automotive products are strongly supporting both industries.

“As a result of the actions taken by the Administration designed to boost the production of vehicles in the United States, we have already arranged higher volume commitments with our automotive OEM customers,” Goncalves said.

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits was in the ‘neutral’ (49/100) territory, while retail chatter was ‘high.'

CLF’s Sentiment Meter and Message Volume as of 03:47 a.m. ET on May 8, 2025 | Source: Stocktwits

One retail user said, “They have so much debt it’s impossible to get lean.”

While some users urged Goncalves to retire for a turnaround.

Cleveland-Cliffs stock has fallen 10.8% year to date (YTD).

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