Cleveland-Cliffs CEO reveals an advantage CLF has over its competitors

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc (NYSE: CLF) opened 10% up on Friday after the steel maker reported its financial results for the first quarter that handily topped Wall Street expectations.

What Cleveland-Cliffs Q1 earnings report tells us

• Net income came in at $801 million that translates to $1.50 per share.
• In the same quarter last year, net income was capped at $41 million (7 cents a share).
• On an adjusted basis, per-share earnings stood at $1.71 in the first quarter.
• Sales jumped 50% YoY to $6.0 billion, as per the earnings press release.
• FactSet consensus was for $1.46 of EPS on $5.4 billion in sales.

The Ohio-headquartered company noted $111 million of non-recurring, non-cash charges in Q1. Explaining how Cleveland-Cliffs remained resilient despite a slide in spot prices for steel, CEO Lourenco Goncalves said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box”:

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc guidance for fiscal 2022

For fiscal 2022, Cleveland-Cliffs raised its expectations for average selling price to $1,445 per net ton versus $1,225 it forecast earlier. Consequently, it hopes to generate record free cash flow this year.

According to the chief executive, Cleveland-Cliffs is also immune to the ongoing geopolitical tensions in Eastern Europe. He added: