Cleveland-Cliffs CEO's Earnings Call Outburst: 'We Are Going To Screw This Guy So Badly'

Shares of mining company Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: CLF) fell as much as 7.37 percent following the company's Q3 earnings release and a public outburst from CEO Lourenco Goncalves.

What Happened

Earnings of 64 cents missed estimates by 3 cents, while sales of $741.8 million came in about $20 million ahead of estimates. The company initiated a 20-cent per share quarterly dividend.

During Friday’s conference call, Goncalves exclaimed that analysts and investors “can’t read numbers,” in light of the recent trend of betting against the company, according to a transcript from CNBC.

“It's unbelievable that this big banks has still employ this type of people, you should resign for your lack of knowledge of things, it's not like that you don't understand, you are very one of the best, it's not like you don't understand our business, you don't understand your own business. You are a disaster. You are an embarrassment to your parents,” Goncalves said on the call.

“With this being said, we are going to use money to reward the long-term shareholders. So, if the stock continues to go down based on these kids that play with computers and somebody else's money, we are going to buy back stock. We are going to screw this guy so badly that I don't believe that they will be able to only resign. They will have to commit suicide."

Why It’s Important

In addition to berating analysts, Goncalves touched on other hot-button issues such as USMCA, China and President Trump. He referred to China as a “bully” and specifically called out the Goldman Sachs analyst by name who he has qualms with.

The CEO’s behavior was full of raw emotion, which appears to have subsequently affected the stock.

Cleveland-Cliffs' stock was down about 6 percent to $10.78 per share at time of publication. Shares are up 37 percent year-to-date and 98 percent over the past two years.

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