CluenexCleveland-Cliffs CLF
Cleveland-Cliffs scores weak on business quality (1.2 of 10). Here is why, in plain words, and what our sealed record shows.
Why it matters
- What Cleveland-Cliffs does
Cleveland-Cliffs produces steel and iron ore products, selling primarily to automotive manufacturers and industrial clients. The business model relies heavily on sustained domestic manufacturing demand for flat-rolled steel.
- What it does best
Cleveland-Cliffs operates as a major flat-rolled steel supplier to the US automotive sector. It maintains a top decile ranking in revenue growth at the 9th sector percentile compared to peers like NUE at 5.7% annual growth.
- The main risk
The company faces severe solvency and interest coverage pressures, with negative interest coverage of -1.3x. Falling steel prices combined with high fixed operating costs threaten ongoing cash burns, as seen in the negative free cash flow of $856 million.
Quality, check by check
Scored against its own industry, from company filings.
Operating margins sit at -4.2% and ROE is -15.2%, placing profitability in the bottom quartile of the sector. The business currently loses money on every ton shipped as scale fails to cover costs.
The moat is virtually non-existent, reflected by a moat score of 1.0 and a gross margin of -1.0%. Commoditized steel pricing prevents sustainable pricing power against competitors like RS.
Revenue dropped to $19.2 billion from prior years above $22 billion. The top-line contraction is accelerating as sector growth ranks in the bottom decile at the 9th percentile.
Total debt sits at $7.7 billion against a meager cash pile of $57 million. Free cash flow is deeply negative at -$856 million, and the balance sheet is rapidly deteriorating.
Insiders
Executives and directors, from SEC Form 4 filings we read ourselves. Open market trades only; grants, option exercises and pre-planned sales left out.
No open market buys or unplanned sales by executives or directors.
Our sealed record on CLF
Verdicts appear here 30 days after we publish them; members see today's. Each one is in the nightly ledger, fingerprinted the night it was made.
The first sealed verdicts appear here on Oct 11, 2026.
Questions
Cleveland-Cliffs scores weak on the Cluenex quality check (1.2 of 10), measured against its own industry. Profitability is weak, moat weak, growth slow and financial health weak.
In the last 90 days of SEC Form 4 filings: No open market buys or unplanned sales by executives or directors.
Oct 19, 2026, after the close.
See CLF today
- Today's verdict on CLF, and why
- Fair value with cautious, base and optimistic cases
- The exact price that would change the verdict
- Which stocks each signal names, the night it fires
Cite this page: Cluenex, “Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF)”, https://cluenex.com/stocks/clf/, data as of Oct 10, 2026.