• On April 28, 2026, Palantir announced a three-year partnership with Cleveland-Cliffs to embed artificial intelligence into production planning, order entry, and operational workflows across the steelmaker’s operations.
• This move highlights Cleveland-Cliffs’ push to digitalize a traditionally asset-heavy business, potentially affecting costs, service levels, and how it competes within the integrated steel industry.
• Now we’ll examine how Cleveland-Cliffs’ new AI partnership with Palantir could influence its existing investment narrative and risk profile.

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Cleveland-Cliffs Investment Narrative Recap

To own Cleveland-Cliffs, you need to believe that a domestically focused, vertically integrated steel producer can improve its cost structure and earnings profile despite cyclicality and policy risk. The Palantir AI partnership could reinforce the near term cost and execution catalyst by improving planning and utilization, but it does not change the biggest current risk around U.S. steel trade protections and exposure to traditional blast furnace technology.

Among recent developments, the Q1 2026 results are most relevant here: Cleveland-Cliffs generated US$4,922 million of sales but still recorded a net loss of US$237 million. Any AI driven efficiencies from the Palantir partnership will be judged against this backdrop of ongoing losses, elevated debt, and the need to convert operational improvements into sustained free cash flow and balance sheet repair.

Yet against this potential upside, investors should be aware that if Section 232 tariffs were eased or removed...

Cleveland-Cliffs' narrative projects $22.1 billion revenue and $606.6 million earnings by 2029. This requires 5.3% yearly revenue growth and an earnings increase of about $1.8 billion from -$1.2 billion today.

Uncover how Cleveland-Cliffs' forecasts yield a $10.67 fair value, in line with its current price.

Exploring Other Perspectives

Some of the most optimistic analysts were already assuming revenue of about US$22.8 billion and earnings of roughly US$703.7 million by 2029, so you should expect their views on tariff dependence and AI driven efficiency to evolve as new information like the Palantir deal comes through and weigh how comfortable you are with such a bullish path.

Explore 6 other fair value estimates on Cleveland-Cliffs - why the stock might be worth 44% less than the current price!

Decide For Yourself

Disagree with existing narratives? Extraordinary investment returns rarely come from following the herd, so go with your instincts.

• A great starting point for your Cleveland-Cliffs research is our analysis highlighting 2 key rewards and 3 important warning signs that could impact your investment decision.
• Our free Cleveland-Cliffs research report provides a comprehensive fundamental analysis summarized in a single visual - the Snowflake - making it easy to evaluate Cleveland-Cliffs' overall financial health at a glance.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.