Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Drops 7% Following Q1 Miss

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) reported disappointing first-quarter results, as the company was impacted by a buyers' strike from service centers during January and February. Shares of the company dropped more than 7% intra-day today following the announcement.

For Q1, the steelmaker posted adjusted earnings of $0.18 per share, a shift from a loss of $0.11 per share the previous year, on revenue of $5.20 billion, down from $5.30 billion the prior year. This fell short of expectations, which were set at $0.22 per share on revenue of $5.35 billion.

The company attributed its resilience to robust automotive production in the United States, which helped mitigate the effects of the temporary buyers' strike from service centers earlier in the year.

Steel product sales volumes decreased to 3.9 million net tons from 4.1 million a year ago in Q1, although the average selling price per ton increased to $1,175 from $1,128.

Cleveland-Cliffs reaffirmed its full-year guidance, expecting steel shipment volumes to reach 16.5 million net tons and forecasting a reduction in steel unit costs of approximately $30 per net ton year-over-year.