Advertisement
CLF vs NUE
Which Stock Would AI Choose? Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (CLF) vs. Nucor Corporation (NUE) Stock Comparison
Key Takeaways
- Both CLF and NUE have delivered strong year-to-date (YTD) gains around 30%, reflecting robust steel sector momentum amid rising prices and demand.
- NUE outperforms on a one-year basis with +86% returns compared to CLF's +17%, driven by consistent profitability and market leadership.
- CLF reported better-than-expected Q1 2026 results with $4.92 billion in revenue, up 6.3% year-over-year, signaling improving demand.
- NUE shows stronger AI technical signals with upward trends across multiple indicators, positioning it for potential continued gains ahead of its Q1 earnings.
- NUE's larger market cap ($48B vs. $5.3B) and positive earnings track record provide greater stability versus CLF's higher volatility.
Introduction
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (CLF) and Nucor Corporation (NUE) are leading U.S. steel producers navigating a dynamic market shaped by infrastructure demand, automotive recovery, and trade policy shifts. This comparison evaluates their recent performance, business models, and market positioning in the steel sector, where rising prices and tight supply have fueled gains. Traders seeking momentum plays and long-term investors focused on industrial cyclicals will find insights into relative strengths, risks, and AI-driven trends amid recent steel rallies. With both stocks up significantly year-to-date, understanding their contrasts aids informed decision-making in today's volatile environment.
CLF Overview and Recent Performance
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (CLF) is a vertically integrated steelmaker with iron ore mining operations, serving automotive, infrastructure, and appliance sectors. In recent market activity, CLF shares have surged about 19% over the past 30 days, rebounding from quarterly lows amid a steel price uptick. The company reported first-quarter 2026 results exceeding estimates, with revenue of $4.92 billion (up 6.3% year-over-year) and a narrower loss of $0.40 per share (earnings per share, a profitability measure). CEO Lourenco Goncalves highlighted a full order book and strong demand, boosting sentiment despite broader YTD volatility. Trading around $9.25 with a market capitalization (total value of outstanding shares) of $5.3 billion, CLF remains sensitive to auto sector cycles and raw material costs, contributing to its beta (volatility measure) of 1.92.
NUE Overview and Recent Performance
Nucor Corporation (NUE), the largest U.S. steel producer, operates efficient electric arc mini-mills using scrap metal, focusing on sheet, plate, and structural products for construction and manufacturing. Recent weeks have seen NUE extend gains, trading near $212 with a $48 billion market cap and trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 28.18. Year-to-date performance stands at +30%, with one-year returns at +87%, outperforming peers amid a steel rally. Anticipation builds for Q1 2026 earnings on April 27, with analysts citing tight supply and raised price targets, such as JPMorgan's $212. Positive momentum from moving average crossovers and MACD (moving average convergence divergence, a trend indicator) signals supports investor confidence, though overbought RSI (relative strength index, momentum oscillator) hints at possible near-term pullbacks.
Trending AI Robots
Tickeron’s Trending AI Robots page showcases 25 top-performing AI trading bots curated from hundreds available, each designed for diverse strategies across thousands of tickers. These bots adapt to current market conditions like steel sector volatility, offering styles from short-term scalping (average trade 1 day) to swing trading (up to 55 days). Performance stats include annualized returns of 15% to 178%, win rates from 48% to 88%, and profit factors up to 11.7 (ratio of gross profits to losses). Profit-to-drawdown ratios range 2.5 to 21.5, with absolute drawdowns $1,500 to $49,000, spanning sectors like industrials and ETFs. Traders can explore these for automated, data-driven edges tailored to today's trends.
Head-to-Head Comparison
Both CLF and NUE benefit from U.S. steel demand via infrastructure and autos, but differ in models: CLF's integrated iron ore operations provide supply security yet expose it to mining costs, while NUE's scrap-based mini-mills offer cost efficiency and scalability. Growth drivers include tariffs shielding domestic pricing, though NUE shows superior momentum with stronger one-year gains and profitability (EPS $7.52 TTM). CLF exhibits higher risk via volatility (beta 1.92 vs. 1.75) and recent losses, contrasted by NUE's stability. Sector exposure overlaps in steel, but NUE diversifies more into downstream products. Market sentiment favors NUE pre-earnings, while CLF gains from post-earnings rebound—trade-offs hinge on risk appetite versus consistency.
Tickeron AI Verdict
Tickeron’s AI analysis leans toward NUE in the current environment, citing consistent upward trends across Aroon, MACD, and moving averages, alongside balanced profitability and lower relative risk. CLF shows rebound potential post-earnings but faces mixed signals like overbought RSI and bearish momentum shifts. With NUE's superior positioning amid steel catalysts, it holds higher probabilistic edge for near-term outperformance, though both warrant monitoring for sector shifts.
Disclaimer
The information on this webpage is provided for general informational and educational purposes only and is not intended as investment advice, a recommendation to purchase or sell any security, or an offer or solicitation related to investments. It does not consider your personal financial situation, goals, or risk profile, and all investing carries inherent risks, including the possibility of losing your entire investment. For more details, please review our full disclaimer. Disclaimers and Limitations
CLF and NUE provide steel products to the US market. NUE is the largest producer of steel in the US, with an enterprise value of $37B which dwarfs CLF’ $17B. NUE primarily uses electric arc technology to smelt and shape their iron and steel. CLF is using blast furnace technology. Analysts suggest that because blast furnaces cannot respond to the ups and downs of this cyclical industry quite as well as an electric arc furnace can, that investors will tend to get more of a bang for their buck with the companies using electric arc methods. CLF produces mostly rolled steel and sells the larges st block of its products to carmakers. NUE produces significant amounts of flanged steel beams, steel fasteners, and other products used in non-residential construction, electrical conduits, tubing, and so forth. CLF offers some of those same products but on a smaller scale. Due to its more robust vertical integration and other factors, the profit margins and operating margins of NUE tend to look better.
Long-Term Analysis
It is best to consider a long-term outlook for a ticker by using Fundamental Analysis (FA) ratings. The rating of 1 to 100, where 1 is best and 100 is worst, is divided into thirds. The first third (a green rating of 1-33) indicates that the ticker is undervalued; the second third (a grey number between 34 and 66) means that the ticker is valued fairly; and the last third (red number of 67 to 100) reflects that the ticker is undervalued. We use an FA Score to show how many ratings show the ticker to be undervalued (green) or overvalued (red).
CLF’s FA Score shows that 1 FA rating(s) are green whileNUE’s FA Score has 3 green FA rating(s).
- CLF’s FA Score: 1 green, 4 red.
- NUE’s FA Score: 3 green, 2 red.
Short-Term Analysis
It is best to consider a short-term outlook for a ticker by using Technical Analysis (TA) indicators. We use Odds of Success as the percentage of outcomes which confirm successful trade signals in the past.
If the Odds of Success (the likelihood of the continuation of a trend) for each indicator are greater than 50%, then the generated signal is confirmed. A green percentage from 90% to 51% indicates that the ticker is in a bullish trend. A red percentage from 90% - 51% indicates that the ticker is in a bearish trend. All grey percentages are below 50% and are considered not to confirm the trend signal.
CLF’s TA Score shows that 3 TA indicator(s) are bullish while NUE’s TA Score has 4 bullish TA indicator(s).
- CLF’s TA Score: 3 bullish, 5 bearish.
- NUE’s TA Score: 4 bullish, 4 bearish.
Price Growth
CLF (@Steel) experienced а -12.77% price change this week, while NUE (@Steel) price change was -5.55% for the same time period.
The average weekly price growth across all stocks in the @Steel industry was -6.08%. For the same industry, the average monthly price growth was +144.49%, and the average quarterly price growth was +13.91%.
Reported Earning Dates
CLF is expected to report earnings on Jul 27, 2026.
NUE is expected to report earnings on Jul 27, 2026.
Industries' Descriptions
@Steel (-6.08% weekly)The steel industry includes manufacturers of steel and steel-related products. Companies use iron ore and scrap steel to produce steel. The industry also includes companies involved in mining and marketing of steel products. Along with serving some of the domestic markets, U.S. steel output has, over the years, been used by international economies as well. Competition from imported steel has also increased over time. The industry could be susceptible to business cycles, since the element is an important input in industrial production. Some of the globally-renowned steel behemoths include Nucor Corporation, Vale, and ArcelorMittal SA.
| CLF | NUE | CLF / NUE | |
| Capitalization | 6.78B | 55.8B | 12% |
| EBITDA | 138M | 5.03B | 3% |
| Gain YTD | -10.467 | 50.675 | -21% |
| P/E Ratio | 145.67 | 24.30 | 599% |
| Revenue | 18.9B | 34.2B | 55% |
| Total Cash | 45M | 2.48B | 2% |
| Total Debt | 7.76B | 7.12B | 109% |
CLF | NUE | ||
|---|---|---|---|
OUTLOOK RATING 1..100 | 75 | 85 | |
VALUATION overvalued / fair valued / undervalued 1..100 | 67 Overvalued | 22 Undervalued | |
PROFIT vs RISK RATING 1..100 | 100 | 30 | |
SMR RATING 1..100 | 97 | 68 | |
PRICE GROWTH RATING 1..100 | 39 | 5 | |
P/E GROWTH RATING 1..100 | 2 | 42 | |
SEASONALITY SCORE 1..100 | 50 | 50 |
Tickeron ratings are formulated such that a rating of 1 designates the most successful stocks in a given industry, while a rating of 100 points to the least successful stocks for that industry.
NUE's Valuation (22) in the Steel industry is somewhat better than the same rating for CLF (67). This means that NUE’s stock grew somewhat faster than CLF’s over the last 12 months.
NUE's Profit vs Risk Rating (30) in the Steel industry is significantly better than the same rating for CLF (100). This means that NUE’s stock grew significantly faster than CLF’s over the last 12 months.
NUE's SMR Rating (68) in the Steel industry is in the same range as CLF (97). This means that NUE’s stock grew similarly to CLF’s over the last 12 months.
NUE's Price Growth Rating (5) in the Steel industry is somewhat better than the same rating for CLF (39). This means that NUE’s stock grew somewhat faster than CLF’s over the last 12 months.
CLF's P/E Growth Rating (2) in the Steel industry is somewhat better than the same rating for NUE (42). This means that CLF’s stock grew somewhat faster than NUE’s over the last 12 months.
| CLF | NUE | |
|---|---|---|
| RSI ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 83% | 2 days ago 67% |
| Stochastic ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 73% | 2 days ago 64% |
| Momentum ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 85% | 2 days ago 68% |
| MACD ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 80% | 2 days ago 74% |
| TrendWeek ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 79% | 2 days ago 65% |
| TrendMonth ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 81% | 2 days ago 73% |
| Advances ODDS (%) | 12 days ago 80% | 12 days ago 76% |
| Declines ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 81% | 6 days ago 63% |
| BollingerBands ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 77% | 2 days ago 64% |
| Aroon ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 79% | 2 days ago 76% |
Advertisement
| 1 Day | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| CRYPTO / NAME | Price $ | Chg $ | Chg % |
| STRAX.X | 0.010632 | 0.000227 | +2.18% |
| Xertra cryptocurrency | |||
| AAVE.X | 75.042400 | 1.105888 | +1.50% |
| Aave cryptocurrency | |||
| YFI.X | 1802.607300 | 11.710815 | +0.65% |
| Yearn cryptocurrency | |||
| BAR.X | 0.273053 | -0.001415 | -0.52% |
| FC Barcelona Fan Token cryptocurrency | |||
| GFT.X | 0.000035 | -0.000001 | -2.51% |
| Gifto cryptocurrency | |||
CLF and
Correlation & Price change
A.I.dvisor indicates that over the last year, CLF has been loosely correlated with NUE. These tickers have moved in lockstep 54% of the time. This A.I.-generated data suggests there is some statistical probability that if CLF jumps, then NUE could also see price increases.