It's been a mediocre week for Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) shareholders, with the stock dropping 11% to US$10.57 in the week since its latest full-year results. Revenues came in at US$19b, in line with expectations, while statutory losses per share were substantially higher than expected, at US$1.57 per share. This is an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance in its report, look at what experts are forecasting for next year, and see if there has been any change to expectations for the business. So we collected the latest post-earnings statutory consensus estimates to see what could be in store for next year.

View our latest analysis for Cleveland-Cliffs

Taking into account the latest results, the most recent consensus for Cleveland-Cliffs from eight analysts is for revenues of US$20.4b in 2025. If met, it would imply a reasonable 6.3% increase on its revenue over the past 12 months. The loss per share is expected to greatly reduce in the near future, narrowing 82% to US$0.27. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$20.5b and losses of US$0.69 per share in 2025. While the revenue estimates were largely unchanged, sentiment seems to have improved, with the analysts upgrading their numbers and making a considerable decrease in losses per share in particular.

There's been no major changes to the consensus price target of US$12.39, suggesting that reduced loss estimates are not enough to have a long-term positive impact on the stock's valuation. That's not the only conclusion we can draw from this data however, as some investors also like to consider the spread in estimates when evaluating analyst price targets. There are some variant perceptions on Cleveland-Cliffs, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$20.00 and the most bearish at US$7.00 per share. With such a wide range in price targets, analysts are almost certainly betting on widely divergent outcomes in the underlying business. As a result it might not be a great idea to make decisions based on the consensus price target, which is after all just an average of this wide range of estimates.

Taking a look at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can understand these forecasts is to see how they compare to both past performance and industry growth estimates. It's pretty clear that there is an expectation that Cleveland-Cliffs' revenue growth will slow down substantially, with revenues to the end of 2025 expected to display 6.3% growth on an annualised basis. This is compared to a historical growth rate of 27% over the past five years. Juxtapose this against the other companies in the industry with analyst coverage, which are forecast to grow their revenues (in aggregate) 4.4% per year. Even after the forecast slowdown in growth, it seems obvious that Cleveland-Cliffs is also expected to grow faster than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that the analysts reconfirmed their loss per share estimates for next year. Fortunately, they also reconfirmed their revenue numbers, suggesting that it's tracking in line with expectations. Additionally, our data suggests that revenue is expected to grow faster than the wider industry. The consensus price target held steady at US$12.39, with the latest estimates not enough to have an impact on their price targets.

With that said, the long-term trajectory of the company's earnings is a lot more important than next year. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for Cleveland-Cliffs going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here..

It is also worth noting that we have found 1 warning sign for Cleveland-Cliffs that you need to take into consideration.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.