What happened: Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) stock fell as much as 11% on Monday before paring losses to 3%.
What’s moving the stock: Shares fell after the company disclosed an unexpected $80 million energy cost in the first quarter, driven by the extreme cold snap that sent arctic temperatures sweeping across the US.
CEO Lourenco Goncalves said the company typically locks in natural gas prices three days before each month begins. For February, that date happened to coincide with the peak of January pricing, Goncalves said.
Even as gas prices have fallen since January, that drop has been partially offset by increased expenses elsewhere, Goncalves said. He cited the rising cost of fuel, which has jumped as the war in Iran has snarled global energy markets.
What else you should know: Goncalves also said Monday that due to a run-up in steel prices and healthy demand from the US automotive sector, Cleveland-Cliffs is “no longer in a hurry” to close a long-planned deal with South Korea’s POSCO Holdings (PKX).
“Our situation is getting better, and that’s changing our perception of how this deal should be taken care of,” Goncalves said on Monday. “We are no longer in a hurry.”
The deal was expected to be finalized in the fourth quarter of 2025 or the first quarter of 2026.
Higher energy costs and a delayed deal overshadowed a smaller-than-expected profit loss in the first quarter. Cleveland-Cliffs reported a loss per share of $0.42, compared to Wall Street estimates for a loss of $0.44 per share, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Revenue of $4.92 billion surpassed expectations for $4.79 billion.
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