Is CLF a high-quality business?

AlphaMadera's AlphaQuality grade scores Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. on six pillars — profitability, capital efficiency, balance-sheet strength, growth durability, cash generation, and shareholder yield. The composite letter grade reflects how CLF compares to a Buffett-style quality bar.

What is Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.'s AlphaQuality grade?

AlphaQuality assigns a letter grade (A through F) to CLF based on a six-pillar quantitative model. The live page shows the composite grade plus each pillar's individual score with the underlying metrics.

What makes CLF a quality stock?

AlphaQuality looks at return on capital, free-cash-flow margins, debt-to-equity, revenue stability, dividend and buyback policy, and operating-margin trend. Stocks scoring well across all six pillars earn higher grades — the methodology favors compounders over cyclicals.

CLF - Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.

Price: -- -- | CONSENSUS: Hold DETAILS | PRICE TARGET: $10.68 DETAILS

AlphaQuality

Quantitative six-pillar business-quality grade

Other Commodity Producers

AlphaQuality — archetype-weighted quantitative grade

D- 31.4 / 100 composite

Composite Grade

Composite of six pillars weighted for other commodity producers businesses. Purely quantitative — no stock price or analyst input.

Profitability

Weight: 15%

D- 27.0

5yr Avg ROIC 5.7% 39/100
Operating Margin Trend -6.62 pp/yr 0/100

Capital Efficiency

Weight: 10%

B- 66.3

5yr Avg ROE 8.1% 51/100
5yr Share-Count CAGR -3.1% 95/100

Growth Quality

Weight: 5%

F 14.9

5yr Revenue CAGR -2.3% 15/100
5yr EPS CAGR -61.8% 0/100
Revenue-Growth Years (5) 2/5 40/100

Cash Generation

Weight: 25%

C+ 58.8

5yr FCF Margin 3.1% 40/100
5yr FCF/NI Conversion 1.93x 82/100

Balance Sheet

Weight: 25%

F 4.8

Net Debt / EBITDA 10.00x 0/100
Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int) -2.28x 0/100
Altman Z-Score 1.17 19/100

Stability

Weight: 20%

F 20.5

EPS Volatility (σ/μ) 0.79 9/100
Piotroski F-Score 2 22/100
Negative-Revenue Years (5) 3/5 40/100

5 of 5 gurus held; 2 added; 3 trimmed.

Holders: 5
Avg Δ position: +49.1%
New buys: 0
Full exits: 0

Dalio increased +251%
Druckenmiller increased +33%
Cooperman decreased -22%

How this is calculated

AlphaQuality grades six pillars from 0-100 and weights each by archetype:

Profitability (15%) — 5yr Avg ROIC, Operating Margin Trend
Capital Efficiency (10%) — 5yr Avg ROE, 5yr Share-Count CAGR
Growth Quality (5%) — 5yr Revenue CAGR, 5yr EPS CAGR, Revenue-Growth Years (5)
Cash Generation (25%) — 5yr FCF Margin, 5yr FCF/NI Conversion
Balance Sheet (25%) — Net Debt / EBITDA, Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int), Altman Z-Score
Stability (20%) — EPS Volatility (σ/μ), Piotroski F-Score, Negative-Revenue Years (5)

We deliberately ignore stock price, analyst targets, and consensus ratings so the grade is suitable for backtesting forward returns. A minimum of 5 fiscal years of audited statements is required; distressed and highly leveraged infrastructure businesses are declared ungradable rather than forced into a numeric score.