Cliffs Natural (CLF) Reports Loss In Q3, Sales Miss Estimates

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE:CLF) is a leading mining and natural resources company. Cliffs is the largest producer of iron ore pellets in North America.

Cliffs is boosting its mining and transportation capacity globally. It has also employed a global exploration program, which is aimed at identifying and capturing new world-class projects.

Let’s have a quick look at this Ohio-based company’s third-quarter 2016 release.

Estimate Trend & Surprise History

Investors should note that the earnings estimate for Cliffs for the third quarter has seen a downtrend over the past month. Cliffs has beaten the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all of the trailing 4 quarters with an average beat of around 91.72%.

Earnings

Cliffs’ adjusted loss for the quarter came in at 2 cents per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of earnings of 19 cents.

Revenues

Cliffs reported revenues of $553.3 million. That missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $587 million.

Key Stats/Developments to Note

For 2016, Cliffs expects its selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses to be $104 million, a $4 million increase from the previous expectation, mainly due to the un-forecasted $4 million USW labor contract signing bonus. Cliffs reiterated its 2016 capital expenditures of $75 million.

Zacks Rank

Currently, Cliffs has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), but that could change following its earnings report which was just released.

Market Reaction

Cliffs’ shares were down around 13% in the pre-market trading. It would be interesting to see how the market reacts to the results during the trading session today.

Check back later for our full write up on Cliffs’ earnings report!

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