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Cleveland-cliffs Inc. key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2025, Cleveland-cliffs Inc. had return on equity of -23.2% and a net margin of -7.9%. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.

Financial ratios

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal years, plus the last twelve months (LTM) when newer.

Fiscal year2009Dec 20092010Dec 20102011Dec 20112012Dec 20122013Dec 20132014Dec 20142015Dec 20152016Dec 20162017Dec 20172018Dec 20182019Dec 20192020Dec 20202021Dec 20212022Dec 20222023Dec 20232024Dec 20242025Dec 2025LTMSept 2026
Net margin8.8%22.7%24.7%−15.3%10.6%−214.2%−37.2%11.2%19.7%48.4%14.7%−2.3%14.6%5.8%1.8%−4.0%−7.9%−2.4%
Return on equity8.1%31.9%33.6%−17.3%7.7%—————74.9%−10.3%79.6%20.1%4.9%−10.5%−23.2%−8.0%
Return on assets4.4%16.4%14.5%−6.4%3.1%−88.9%−28.4%8.6%14.9%34.6%8.3%−1.2%16.7%7.1%2.1%−3.9%−7.2%−2.3%
Effective tax rate7.6%22.3%18.6%—20.0%—54.1%−11.1%——5.8%—20.3%23.6%24.9%———
SG&A as % of revenue5.0%3.8%3.8%4.8%4.2%4.6%5.5%7.4%5.5%4.8%5.7%4.6%2.1%2.0%2.6%2.5%2.9%2.9%
Dividends ÷ net income15.6%6.8%7.3%—22.2%——0.0%0.0%0.0%24.6%———————

Returns use average equity or assets over the year. Return on equity is left blank when equity is negative or so small that the ratio says nothing (above ±200%); interest cover is left blank above 200 times. Price-based ratios such as P/E are on the valuation page.

Financial health

1 of 6 checks passed · September 30, 2026
What it owns · $20.3bn
Short-term assets $7.1bnLonger-term assets $13.2bn
What it owes, and who funded it · $20.1bn
Short-term liabilities $3.8bnLonger-term liabilities $10.6bnShareholders' equity $5.7bn
  • Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $7.1bn of assets due within a year against $3.8bn of liabilities due within a year.
  • Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities $7.1bn short-term assets against $10.6bn of longer-dated liabilities.
  • More cash than debt $77m of cash against $7.6bn of debt.
  • Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 134% of equity.
  • Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 79% to 134% over five years.
  • A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $116m of operating cash flow against $7.6bn of debt.
  • Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Interest not separately reported. Not assessable.

From Cleveland-cliffs Inc.'s latest balance sheet as filed. Checks are fixed, documented rules (methodology), counted only where the company reports the figures — a dot means the filing doesn't break the item out. Descriptions of reported data, not advice.

Moat

32 /100

Weak moat

How hard Cleveland-cliffs's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.

  • Returns on capital 7 / 20

    Cash operating profit has been a median 6.8% of total assets over 10 years.

  • Pricing power 0 / 20

    Gross margin has been a median 10.9%, moving by 12.8 percentage points (standard deviation) across 10 years.

  • Durability 1 / 20

    Operating margin has been a median 8.3%; its worst year was -9.2%.

  • Cash conversion 9 / 20

    Free cash flow was positive in 7 of 10 years, at a median 3.5% of revenue.

  • Discipline 15 / 20

    The diluted share count rose 6.5% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 0.7% of revenue.

AI disruption exposure: Low. In this industry, the business rests on physical assets, regulated networks or products AI itself depends on.

A rules-based reading of reported figures, not a forecast and not investment advice. How the score is built: methodology.

Compare with peers

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Figures from Cleveland-cliffs Inc.'s SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved October 21, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to Cleveland-cliffs Inc.