Cliffs Natural Resources Crushes Earnings Estimates

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Cliffs Natural Resources (NYS: CLF) reported earnings on July 25. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended June 30 (Q2), Cliffs Natural Resources beat expectations on revenues and crushed expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue shrank. Non-GAAP earnings per share contracted significantly. GAAP earnings per share shrank significantly.


Margins dropped across the board.

Revenue details
 Cliffs Natural Resources logged revenue of $1.49 billion. The 13 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated sales of $1.42 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were the same as the prior-year quarter's.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
 EPS came in at $1.13. The 18 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $0.58 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $1.13 for Q2 were 38% lower than the prior-year quarter's $1.81 per share. (The prior-year quarter included $0.06 per share in earnings from discontinued operations.) GAAP EPS of $0.82 for Q2 were 55% lower than the prior-year quarter's $1.81 per share. (The prior-year quarter included $0.06 per share in earnings from discontinued operations.)

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
 For the quarter, gross margin was 18.0%, much worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 17.6%, 580 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 9.8%, 710 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. (Margins calculated in GAAP terms.)

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $1.44 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.42.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $5.45 billion. The average EPS estimate is $2.25.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,605 members out of 1,674 rating the stock outperform, and 69 members rating it underperform. Among 297 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 283 give Cliffs Natural Resources a green thumbs-up, and 14 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Cliffs Natural Resources is hold, with an average price target of $21.88.

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The article Cliffs Natural Resources Crushes Earnings Estimates originally appeared on Fool.com.

Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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