Cleveland-Cliffs Posts Strongest Quarter in Three Years, Guides to Higher Q4 EBITDA

Cleveland-Cliffs reported third-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share of $0.28, topping the Wall Street consensus of $0.22 to $0.24, while revenue came in at $5.6 billion, just below analyst expectations of $5.71 billion. Adjusted EBITDA of $612 million exceeded the company's own $575 million guidance issued three months earlier, marking what CEO Lourenco Goncalves called the strongest quarter in three years. Higher steel selling prices, improved shipment volumes, and better unit costs relative to the second quarter all contributed to the beat.

For the fourth quarter of 2026, the company guided to adjusted EBITDA of approximately $715 million, roughly $103 million above the Q3 result, with management citing continued improvement in steel pricing as the primary driver. Shares surged as much as 15% on the day, trading near $14.09, after an initial premarket move of more than 7%.