Steel: Earnings at non-Japanese companies (37)

Research evidence excerpt

Steel: Earnings at non-Japanese companies (37)

Global Markets Research

Steel: Earnings at non-Japanese companies (37) 24 July 2026

EQUITY: JAPAN STEEL, NONFERROUS METALS, WIRE & CABLE

Results at Cleveland-Cliffs: Sharp improvement in Research Analysts

business conditions Japan steel, nonferrous metals, wire & cable

Yuji Matsumoto - NSC

Positive for earnings outlook for Nippon Steel yuji.matsumoto@nomura.com

+81 3 6703 1220

Cleveland-Cliffs' share price rises 16% on strong earnings

Cleveland-Cliffs [CLF US], a major US blast furnace steelmaker and competitor of Nippon Steel

[5401] (Buy) subsidiary US Steel, announced Apr–Jun results and held an earnings call on 23

July. Cleveland-Cliffs posted strong earnings results and looks for earnings to improve further

going forward. Its share price rose 16% on the day. In Apr–Jun, adjusted EBITDA came to

$286mn, about 3x the level in the previous quarter and 3x the year-earlier level. This was the

highest quarterly result for the past two years. The company guides for adjusted EBITDA to

roughly double q-q to $575mn in Jul–Sep, and it said that adjusted EBITDA in Oct–Dec could

be even higher than in Jul–Sep. The company also noted that it has the opportunity to reset

many of its non-auto fixed price contracts going forward and, based on current high spot steel

prices, it estimates that this will push up its EBITDA by $500mn y-y in 27/12.

We attribute rise in share price to prospects for further earnings improvement

through 27/12

Earnings at US steelmakers tend to fall q-q in Oct–Dec owing to seasonal factors including the

Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Stock market participants are also concerned about the

sustainability of steel prices in the US, which are high compared with prices internationally. We