Key insights
- Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) stock surged over 14% in premarket trading following the release of strong adjusted EBITDA projections for Q4 2026 and 2027, significantly exceeding analyst consensus. The company also highlighted plans for major debt reduction in Q4, driven by amplified free cash flow and property sale proceeds. This positive outlook contrasts with the stock's year-to-date decline, suggesting a potential turnaround for investors.
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A rosy outlook has investors piling into shares of steel producer Cleveland-Cliffs.
Shares of Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) were up over 14% in premarket trading, after the steelmaker’s adjusted EBITDA projections easily topped analysts’ expectations.
The company said it sees adjusted EBITDA of about $715 million for the fourth quarter of 2026, above the $683.6 million analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha called for. Cleveland-Cliffs projected 2027 adjusted EBITDA exceeding $4 billion, easily outdistancing the $2.54 billion consensus estimate.1
“We expect fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA to further increase, even with typical fourth-quarter seasonality and planned maintenance outages,” Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves said. “We continued to reduce debt in Q3 and, with amplified free cash flow in Q4 and property sale proceeds, we expect a major debt reduction in the fourth quarter.”
In the third quarter, the firm reported better-than-expected adjusted EBITDA of $612 million and adjusted earnings of $0.28 per share, although revenue of $5.6 billion came in a tick short.
Cleveland-Cliffs stock entered the day down about 9% this year.