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This will help CLF in the coming months.
General Motors (NYSE:GM) – Shares of GM rose 3.6% in pre-market trading after the company increased its projections for 2024 following a first-quarter performance that exceeded Wall Street expectations. GM revised its expected adjusted earnings for 2024 upwards to between $12.5 billion and $14.5 billion, and net profit for shareholders to between $10.1 billion and $11.5 billion. Additionally, it raised its free cash flow forecast to between $8.5 billion and $10.5 billion. For the first quarter, revenue was $43.01 billion and net profit reached $2.95 billion. Earnings per share were $2.62 adjusted, against $2.15 expected by LSEG estimates.
Do you think any up tick from buy backs?
Shorts are having fun with this.
Cliffs’ CEO Calls Share Buybacks Better Use of Money Than Deals
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Lourenco GoncalvesPhotographer: John Kuntz/AP Photo
By Guillermo Molero
April 22, 2024 at 4:59 PM EDT
Save
1:07
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.’s top boss says buying back shares make more sense than takeovers — a view that underpins the US steelmaker’s decision to repurchase as much as $1.5 billion in stock.
“Buying our own stock is clearly a better use of capital than any M&A opportunities at current valuations — so that’s our primary focus,” Chief Executive Officer Lourenco Goncalves said Monday in the company’s first-quarter earnings statement.
The CEO’s comment comes about fourth months after Cliffs lost out in a bidding war for United States Steel Corp. to Nippon Steel Corp. Goncalves has been a vocal critic of the $14.1 billion takeover of the iconic American steelmaker by a Japanese company since then, calling it a severe miscalculation.
Read More: Cliffs CEO Lashes Out Over Losing US Steel Deal to Nippon
Shares of Cliffs were down 2.5% at 4:15 p.m. in after-market trading in New York after
Cleveland-Cliffs Reports First-Quarter 2024 Results and Announces New $1.5 Billion Share Repurchase Program
Source: Business Wire
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: CLF) today reported first-quarter results for the period ended March 31, 2024.
First Quarter 2024 Highlights
Repurchased 30.4 million shares, or 6% of total outstanding
Revenues of $5.2 billion
Steel shipments of 3.9 million net tons
GAAP net loss of $53 million and adjusted net income1 of $87 million
Adjusted EPS1 of $0.18 per diluted share
Adjusted EBITDA2 of $414 million
70% Adjusted EBITDA2 improvement year-over-year and 48% increase quarter-over-quarter
Liquidity of $4.0 billion as of March 31, 2024
Retired all remaining secured notes
First-quarter 2024 revenues were $5.2 billion, compared to $5.1 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023.
For the first quarter of 2024, the Company recorded a net loss of $53 million, or $0.14 per diluted share, with adjusted net income1 of $87 million, or $0.18 per diluted share. Included in the results were charges and losses totaling $202 million primarily related to the indefinite idle of the Weirton tinplate facility and loss on extinguishment of debt. This compares to a fourth quarter 2023 net loss of $139 million, or $0.31 per diluted share, with an adjusted net loss2 of $25 million, or $0.05 per diluted share.
First-quarter 2024 Adjusted EBITDA2 was $414 million, compared to $279 million in the fourth quarter of 2023 and $243 million in the first quarter of 2023.
During the first quarter of 2024, the Company repurchased 30.4 million CLF common shares, fully utilizing the remaining balance of $608 million under the previously authorized $1 billion share repurchase program. The average stock purchase price for the entire program was $18.79 per share. Following the completion of the program, the Cliffs Board of Directors has authorized a new share repurchase program for the Company to buy back up to $1.5 billion of its outstanding common shares. The Company will have ample flexibility to buy CLF shares via acquisitions in the open market or privately negotiated transactions. The Company is not obligated to make any purchases and the program may be suspended or discontinued at any time. The new program is effective today and does not have a specific expiration date.
Cliffs’ Chairman, President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said: “Our first quarter results were highlighted by the resiliency of automotive production in the United States, which helped to offset a temporary buyers strike from service centers in January and February. With more automotive and less service center business, first quarter mix was richer than originally anticipated, driving both our average selling prices and production costs higher than expected.”
Mr. Goncalves added: “In the first quarter, we returned capital to our shareholders at an aggressive rate. Our stock was cheap throughout the quarter and remains so, driving the exhaustion of our previous $1 billion share repurchase authorization and the commencement of another larger one. Buying our own stock is clearly a better use of capital than any M&A opportunities at current valuations -- so that's our primary focus."
Mr. Goncalves continued: “This quarter, our efforts towards green steel production were recognized in an unprecedented way. As a result of our strong track record with emissions reductions and labor relations, we became the largest intended recipient of federal grants toward decarbonization in the history of the United States. These investments will go toward two game-changing projects, not only with immense carbon reduction prospects, but also robust returns and manageable capital commitments.”
Mr. Goncalves concluded: “Looking forward, we expect to benefit in Q2 from the lower costs under our guidance, which we have maintained. Our largest end market, the automotive sector, is expected to remain strong. Orders from our service center customers have started to increase, with spot pricing also on the upswing. We are fortunate to have such a remarkable partnership with our workforce, and we will navigate this world of abundant opportunities together with our union partners.”
Steelmaking Segment Results
Three Months Ended
March 31,
Three Months
Ended
2024
2023
Dec. 31, 2023
External Sales Volumes - In Thousands
Steel Products (net tons)
3,940
4,085
4,039
Selling Price - Per Net Ton
Average net selling price per net ton of steel products
$
1,175
$
1,128
$
1,093
Operating Results - In Millions
Revenues
$
5,027
$
5,126
$
4,954
Cost of goods sold
(4,757
)
(5,032
)
(4,798
)
Gross margin
$
270
$
94
$
156
First-quarter 2024 steel product sales volumes of 3.9 million net tons consisted of 32% hot-rolled, 31% coated, 17% cold-rolled, 5% plate, 4% stainless and electrical, and 11% other, including slabs and rail.
Steelmaking revenues of $5.0 billion included $1.6 billion, or 32%, of direct sales to the automotive market; $1.4 billion, or 28%, of sales to the infrastructure and manufacturing market; $1.4 billion, or 28%, of sales to the distributors and converters market; and $606 million, or 12%, of sales to steel producers.
Liquidity and Cash Flow
Going forward, the Company has a stated target to maintain net debt at less than two and a half times the Company's trailing twelve months Adjusted EBITDA. The same leverage target would apply in the event of potential future M&A. As of March 31, 2024, the Company's net debt3 was $3.6 billion, well below the target level. The Company ended the first quarter of 2024 with total liquidity of $4.0 billion.
Outlook
The Company maintained all of its previously guided expectations for the full-year 2024, including:
Steel shipment volumes of 16.5 million net tons;
Year-over-year steel unit cost reductions of approximately $30 per net ton, corresponding to an approximate $500 million Adjusted EBITDA benefit compared to 2023; and
Capital expenditures of $675 to $725 million.
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will host a conference call on April 23, 2024, at 8:30 a.m. ET. The call will be broadcast live and archived on Cliffs' website: www.clevelandcliffs.com.
About Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.
Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest flat-rolled steel producer in North America. Founded in 1847 as a mine operator, Cliffs also is the largest manufacturer of iron ore pellets in North America. The Company is vertically integrated from mined raw materials, direct reduced iron, and ferrous scrap to primary steelmaking and downstream finishing, stamping, tooling, and tubing. Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest supplier of steel to the automotive industry in North America and serves a diverse range of other markets due to its comprehensive offering of flat-rolled steel products. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland-Cliffs employs approximately 28,000 people across its operations in the United States and Canada.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. All statements other than historical facts, including, without limitation, statements regarding our current expectations, estimates and projections about our industry or our businesses, are forward-looking statements. We caution investors that any forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results and future trends to differ materially from those matters expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Among the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those described in forward-looking statements are the following: continued volatility of steel, iron ore and scrap metal market prices, which directly and indirectly impact the prices of the products that we sell to our customers; uncertainties associated with the highly competitive and cyclical steel industry and our reliance on the demand for steel from the automotive industry; potential weaknesses and uncertainties in global economic conditions, excess global steelmaking capacity, oversupply of iron ore, prevalence of steel imports and reduced market demand; severe financial hardship, bankruptcy, temporary or permanent shutdowns or operational challenges of one or more of our major customers, key suppliers or contractors, which, among other adverse effects, could disrupt our operations or lead to reduced demand for our products, increased difficulty collecting receivables, and customers and/or suppliers asserting force majeure or other reasons for not performing their contractual obligations to us; risks related to U.S. government actions with respect to Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (as amended by the Trade Act of 1974), the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and/or other trade agreements, tariffs, treaties or policies, as well as the uncertainty of obtaining and maintaining effective antidumping and countervailing duty orders to counteract the harmful effects of unfairly traded imports; impacts of existing and increasing governmental regulation, including potential environmental regulations relating to climate change and carbon emissions, and related costs and liabilities, including failure to receive or maintain required operating and environmental permits, approvals, modifications or other authorizations of, or from, any governmental or regulatory authority and costs related to implementing improvements to ensure compliance with regulatory changes, including potential financial assurance requirements, and reclamation and remediation obligations; potential impacts to the environment or exposure to hazardous substances resulting from our operations; our ability to maintain adequate liquidity, our level of indebtedness and the availability of capital could limit our financial flexibility and cash flow necessary to fund working capital, planned capital expenditures, acquisitions, and other general corporate purposes or ongoing needs of our business, or to repurchase our shares; our ability to reduce our indebtedness or return capital to shareholders within the currently expected timeframes or at all; adverse changes in credit ratings, interest rates, foreign currency rates and tax laws; the outcome of, and costs incurred in connection with, lawsuits, claims, arbitrations or governmental proceedings relating to commercial and business disputes, antitrust claims, environmental matters, government investigations, occupational or personal injury claims, property-related matters, labor and employment matters, or suits involving legacy operations and other matters; supply chain disruptions or changes in the cost, quality or availability of energy sources, including electricity, natural gas and diesel fuel, critical raw materials and supplies, including iron ore, industrial gases, graphite electrodes, scrap metal, chrome, zinc, other alloys, coke and metallurgical coal, and critical manufacturing equipment and spare parts; problems or disruptions associated with transporting products to our customers, moving manufacturing inputs or products internally among our facilities, or suppliers transporting raw materials to us; the risk that the cost or time to implement a strategic or sustaining capital project may prove to be greater than originally anticipated; our ability to consummate any public or private acquisition transactions and to realize any or all of the anticipated benefits or estimated future synergies, as well as to successfully integrate any acquired businesses into our existing businesses; uncertainties associated with natural or human-caused disasters, adverse weather conditions, unanticipated geological conditions, critical equipment failures, infectious disease outbreaks, tailings dam failures and other unexpected events; cybersecurity incidents relating to, disruptions in, or failures of, information technology systems that are managed by us or third parties that host or have access to our data or systems, including the loss, theft or corruption of sensitive or essential business or personal information and the inability to access or control systems; liabilities and costs arising in connection with any business decisions to temporarily or indefinitely idle or permanently close an operating facility or mine, which could adversely impact the carrying value of associated assets and give rise to impairment charges or closure and reclamation obligations, as well as uncertainties associated with restarting any previously idled operating facility or mine; our level of self-insurance and our ability to obtain sufficient third-party insurance to adequately cover potential adverse events and business risks; uncertainties associated with our ability to meet customers' and suppliers' decarbonization goals and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions in alignment with our own announced targets; challenges to maintaining our social license to operate with our stakeholders, including the impacts of our operations on local communities, reputational impacts of operating in a carbon-intensive industry that produces greenhouse gas emissions, and our ability to foster a consistent operational and safety track record; our actual economic mineral reserves or reductions in current mineral reserve estimates, and any title defect or loss of any lease, license, easement or other possessory interest for any mining property; our ability to maintain satisfactory labor relations with unions and employees; unanticipated or higher costs associated with pension and other post-employment benefit obligations resulting from changes in the value of plan assets or contribution increases required for unfunded obligations; uncertain availability or cost of skilled workers to fill critical operational positions and potential labor shortages caused by experienced employee attrition or otherwise, as well as our ability to attract, hire, develop and retain key personnel; the amount and timing of any repurchases of our common shares; and potential significant deficiencies or material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting.
For additional factors affecting the business of Cliffs, refer to Part I – Item 1A. Risk Factors of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, and other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
CLEVELAND-CLIFFS INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
STATEMENTS OF UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED OPERATIONS
Three Months Ended
March 31,
Three Months
Ended
(In millions, except per share amounts)
2024
2023
Dec. 31, 2023
Revenues
$
5,199
$
5,295
$
5,112
Operating costs:
Cost of goods sold
(4,914
)
(5,196
)
(4,944
)
Selling, general and administrative expenses
(132
)
(127
)
(169
)
Restructuring and other charges
(104
)
—
—
Asset impairments
(64
)
—
—
Goodwill impairment
—
—
(125
)
Miscellaneous – net
(23
)
(3
)
26
Total operating costs
(5,237
)
(5,326
)
(5,212
)
Operating loss
(38
)
(31
)
(100
)
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net
(64
)
(77
)
(63
)
Loss on extinguishment of debt
(21
)
—
—
Net periodic benefit credits other than service cost component
60
50
54
Other non-operating income
2
2
1
Total other expense
(23
)
(25
)
(8
)
Loss from continuing operations before income taxes
(61
)
(56
)
(108
)
Income tax benefit (expense)
8
13
(30
)
Loss from continuing operations
(53
)
(43
)
(138
)
Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax
—
1
(1
)
Net loss
(53
)
(42
)
(139
)
Income attributable to noncontrolling interests
(14
)
(15
)
(16
)
Net loss attributable to Cliffs shareholders
$
(67
)
$
(57
)
$
(155
)
Loss per common share attributable to Cliffs shareholders - basic
Continuing operations
$
(0.14
)
$
(0.11
)
$
(0.31
)
Discontinued operations
—
—
—
$
(0.14
)
$
(0.11
)
$
(0.31
)
Loss per common share attributable to Cliffs shareholders - diluted
Continuing operations
$
(0.14
)
$
(0.11
)
$
(0.31
)
Discontinued operations
—
—
—
$
(0.14
)
$
(0.11
)
$
(0.31
)
CLEVELAND-CLIFFS INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
STATEMENTS OF UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL POSITION
(In millions)
March 31,
2024
December 31,
2023
ASSETS
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents
$
30
$
198
Accounts receivable, net
1,868
1,840
Inventories
4,449
4,460
Other current assets
122
138
Total current assets
6,469
6,636
Non-current assets:
Property, plant and equipment, net
8,771
8,895
Goodwill
1,005
1,005
Pension and OPEB assets
344
329
Other non-current assets
647
672
TOTAL ASSETS
$
17,236
$
17,537
LIABILITIES
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable
$
2,051
$
2,099
Accrued employment costs
449
511
Accrued expenses
318
380
Other current liabilities
578
518
Total current liabilities
3,396
3,508
Non-current liabilities:
Long-term debt
3,664
3,137
Pension and OPEB liabilities
791
821
Deferred income taxes
628
639
Other non-current liabilities
1,315
1,310
TOTAL LIABILITIES
9,794
9,415
TOTAL EQUITY
7,442
8,122
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND EQUITY
$
17,236
$
17,537
CLEVELAND-CLIFFS INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
STATEMENTS OF UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOWS
Three Months Ended
March 31,
(In millions)
2024
2023
OPERATING ACTIVITIES
Net loss
$
(53
)
$
(42
)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash provided (used) by operating activities:
Depreciation, depletion and amortization
230
242
Restructuring and other charges
104
—
Asset impairments
64
—
Pension and OPEB credits
(51
)
(40
)
Loss on extinguishment of debt
21
—
Other
44
35
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable, net
(27
)
(257
)
Inventories
(8
)
207
Income taxes
(1
)
15
Pension and OPEB payments and contributions
(32
)
(30
)
Payables, accrued employment and accrued expenses
(170
)
(90
)
Other, net
21
(79
)
Net cash provided (used) by operating activities
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc (CLF) is expected to report $0.25 for 1Q.
https://www.morningstar.com/news/dow-jones/202404222127/north-american-morning-briefing-stock-futures-2
All I can get.
Manufacturing
Here's what Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves said about the US Steel deal
Cleveland-Cliffs Chairman, President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves addresses union workers at the Butler Works before an event Friday celebrating the factory's successful fight against a proposed rule that would have closed it.
PAUL J. GOUGH/BPT
By Paul J. Gough – Reporter, Pittsburgh Business Times
Apr 19, 2024
Preview this article1 min
Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves predicted last week that not only will Nippon Steel fall short in its bid to acquire United States Steel but that he'll be there to successfully acquire the Pittsburgh-based manufacturer.
Cleveland-Cliffs Applauds DOE’s Final Transformer Efficiency Standard Rule
Source: Business Wire
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: CLF) today applauded the Department of Energy’s (DOE) final transformer efficiency standard rule that will provide for the continued utilization of Grain-Oriented Electrical Steel (GOES) in virtually all of Cliffs’ current distribution transformer end markets.
With this revised rule, the DOE acknowledged the fundamental importance of GOES and the essential role played by Cleveland-Cliffs steel plants in Butler, PA and Zanesville, OH in effectively sustaining the functionality of the U.S. electric grid. Cleveland-Cliffs and the United Auto Workers (UAW) worked collaboratively to educate the DOE on the shortcomings of the originally proposed distribution transformer rule and the danger of relying on Amorphous Metal, which is produced in very limited volumes and exclusively from imported materials.
Lourenco Goncalves, Cleveland-Cliffs’ Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer said, “We are grateful that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) was open to the feedback provided by Cleveland-Cliffs and our clientele of transformer manufacturers, and adopted major changes to the originally proposed transformer efficiency rule. The final rule ensures Cliffs’ ability to continue producing highly-efficient GOES in the United States. Once this rule is enacted, we expect to actually see an increase in demand for our GOES, opening the possibility of future investments and expansion of our plants in Butler, PA and Zanesville, OH.”
Cleveland-Cliffs currently employs 1,500 workers in Butler, PA and Zanesville, OH. Following the issuance of this rule, Cleveland-Cliffs can confidently make investments that will not only sustain these good-paying middle class jobs, but also increase the opportunities of employment for its skilled UAW-represented workforce.
About Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.
Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest flat-rolled steel producer in North America. Founded in 1847 as a mine operator, Cliffs is also the largest manufacturer of iron ore pellets in North America. The Company is vertically integrated from mined raw materials, direct reduced iron, and ferrous scrap to primary steelmaking and downstream finishing, stamping, tooling, and tubing. Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest supplier of steel to the automotive industry in North America and serves a diverse range of other markets due to its comprehensive offering of flat-rolled steel products. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland-Cliffs employs approximately 28,000 people across its operations in the United States and Canada.
?
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240403104080/en/
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Patricia Persico
Senior Director, Corporate Communications
(216) 694-5316
INVESTOR CONTACT:
James Kerr
Director, Investor Relations
(216) 694-7719
Cleveland-Cliffs Issues Sustainability Report for 2023
Source: Business Wire
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: CLF) announced today the release of its Sustainability Report 2023. The Report informs about Cleveland-Cliffs’ continued progress on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance for 2023, including its achievements in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and decarbonization initiatives. It also includes a Limited Assurance Review issued by Deloitte & Touche LLP.
The Sustainability Report 2023 details how Cleveland-Cliffs’ steel products help advance the transition to a low-carbon economy, providing updates and highlights related to Cleveland-Cliffs’ most important sustainability topics, including climate and GHG emissions, water, waste, talent management, labor and community relations, health and safety, and corporate governance. The Report includes a Performance Metrics table that presents 3-year trended data on a comprehensive set of sustainability metrics, as well as Cliffs’ Statement of GHG Emissions, which discloses consolidated Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions data for 2023.
Lourenco Goncalves, Cleveland-Cliffs’ Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer said, “With our GHG emissions intensity 28% better than the global steel industry average, Cleveland-Cliffs is one of the cleanest and most energy-efficient blast furnace steel producers in the world. Through our advancements in steelmaking by the BF-BOF route, we supply our customers with lower carbon intensive steel. We took a major step forward in 2023 and early 2024 in this endeavor by completing successful trials of hydrogen injection into blast furnaces at our Middletown and Indiana Harbor integrated steel mills.”
Mr. Goncalves continued, “As we grow, we continue to foster a culture of safety and inclusion at Cliffs. I thank all our employees, particularly our union workforce, for their continued dedication to safe production.”
Cleveland-Cliffs proudly upholds its commitment to sustainability as evidenced by the following highlights from the 2023 report:
Continued downward trend of Cleveland-Cliffs’ Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions intensity per ton of crude steel (both company-wide and integrated mill average);
Specifically, Cleveland-Cliffs’ BF-BOF average emissions intensity was reduced to 1.54 metric tons CO2e per metric ton of crude steel produced (from 1.60 in 2022), a number 28% lower than the 2023 global average of 2.15;
Strengthened the Company’s partnerships with prominent labor unions, including successfully negotiating new labor contracts covering employees at numerous operations;
Cultivated partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy and other relevant organizations in successful pursuit of industrial decarbonization projects through technologies such as hydrogen use, electrification and direct reduction;
Enhanced health and safety resources and employee engagement programs to further support workers and operations;
Continued engagement with local communities, including expanding strategic partnerships and increasing charitable donations and employee giving to total $7.5 million for 2023; and
Continued to improve scoring and transparency on sustainability ratings platforms such as CDP, an international nonprofit organization that manages the global disclosure system for investors, companies, cities, states and regions to manage their environmental impacts.
Cleveland-Cliffs’ Sustainability Report 2023 is accessible online in the “Sustainability” section of the Company’s corporate website, www.clevelandcliffs.com, where a printable PDF version of the report is also available.
About Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.
Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest flat-rolled steel producer in North America. Founded in 1847 as a mine operator, Cliffs is also the largest manufacturer of iron ore pellets in North America. The Company is vertically integrated from mined raw materials, direct reduced iron, and ferrous scrap to primary steelmaking and downstream finishing, stamping, tooling, and tubing. Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest supplier of steel to the automotive industry in North America and serves a diverse range of other markets due to its comprehensive offering of flat-rolled steel products. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland-Cliffs employs approximately 28,000 people across its operations in the United States and Canada.
?
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240403094321/en/
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Patricia Persico
Senior Director, Corporate Communications
(216) 694-5316
INVESTOR CONTACT:
James Kerr
Director, Investor Relations
(216) 694-7719
Cleveland-Cliffs Applauds DOE’s Final Transformer Efficiency Standard Rule
Source: Business Wire
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: CLF) today applauded the Department of Energy’s (DOE) final transformer efficiency standard rule that will provide for the continued utilization of Grain-Oriented Electrical Steel (GOES) in virtually all of Cliffs’ current distribution transformer end markets.
With this revised rule, the DOE acknowledged the fundamental importance of GOES and the essential role played by Cleveland-Cliffs steel plants in Butler, PA and Zanesville, OH in effectively sustaining the functionality of the U.S. electric grid. Cleveland-Cliffs and the United Auto Workers (UAW) worked collaboratively to educate the DOE on the shortcomings of the originally proposed distribution transformer rule and the danger of relying on Amorphous Metal, which is produced in very limited volumes and exclusively from imported materials.
Lourenco Goncalves, Cleveland-Cliffs’ Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer said, “We are grateful that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) was open to the feedback provided by Cleveland-Cliffs and our clientele of transformer manufacturers, and adopted major changes to the originally proposed transformer efficiency rule. The final rule ensures Cliffs’ ability to continue producing highly-efficient GOES in the United States. Once this rule is enacted, we expect to actually see an increase in demand for our GOES, opening the possibility of future investments and expansion of our plants in Butler, PA and Zanesville, OH.”
Cleveland-Cliffs currently employs 1,500 workers in Butler, PA and Zanesville, OH. Following the issuance of this rule, Cleveland-Cliffs can confidently make investments that will not only sustain these good-paying middle class jobs, but also increase the opportunities of employment for its skilled UAW-represented workforce.
About Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.
Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest flat-rolled steel producer in North America. Founded in 1847 as a mine operator, Cliffs is also the largest manufacturer of iron ore pellets in North America. The Company is vertically integrated from mined raw materials, direct reduced iron, and ferrous scrap to primary steelmaking and downstream finishing, stamping, tooling, and tubing. Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest supplier of steel to the automotive industry in North America and serves a diverse range of other markets due to its comprehensive offering of flat-rolled steel products. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland-Cliffs employs approximately 28,000 people across its operations in the United States and Canada.
?
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240403104080/en/
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Patricia Persico
Senior Director, Corporate Communications
(216) 694-5316
INVESTOR CONTACT:
James Kerr
Director, Investor Relations
(216) 694-7719
Cleveland-Cliffs to Announce First-Quarter 2024 Earnings Results on April 22 and Host Conference Call on April 23
Source: Business Wire
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: CLF) will announce its first-quarter 2024 earnings results after the U.S. market close on Monday, April 22, 2024.
The Company invites interested parties to listen to a live broadcast of a conference call with securities analysts and institutional investors to discuss the results on Tuesday, April 23, 2024, at 8:30 am ET. The call can be accessed at www.clevelandcliffs.com and will also be archived and available for replay at that address.
About Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.
Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest flat-rolled steel producer in North America. Founded in 1847 as a mine operator, Cliffs also is the largest manufacturer of iron ore pellets in North America. The Company is vertically integrated from mined raw materials, direct reduced iron, and ferrous scrap to primary steelmaking and downstream finishing, stamping, tooling, and tubing. Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest supplier of steel to the automotive industry in North America and serves a diverse range of other markets due to its comprehensive offering of flat-rolled steel products. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland-Cliffs employs approximately 28,000 people across its operations in the United States and Canada.
?
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240402048422/en/
MEDIA CONTACT:
Patricia Persico
Senior Director, Corporate Communications
(216) 694-5316
INVESTOR CONTACT:
James Kerr
Director, Investor Relations
(216) 694-7719
$1.8 billion Cleveland-Cliffs plan means more jobs, stability for Middletown steel plant
https://www.journal-news.com/news/18-billion-cleveland-cliffs-plan-means-more-jobs-stability-for-middletown-steel-plant/265NKDXRJVB5RCI7AMUJTABU2E/
On Thursday, GLJ Research upgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE: CLF ) to a Buy rating, maintaining its price target at $27.20
https://za.investing.com/news/clevelandcliffs-lifted-to-buy-at-glj-research-as-it-looks-like-smooth-sailing-ahead-432SI-3069890
Next YouTube (Owned by Google) only not as biased and corupt. IMO.
https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/free-speech/gabriela-pariseau/2024/03/18/41-times-google-has-interfered-us-elections-2008
Rumble Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Results
Source: GlobeNewswire Inc.?
Rumble Inc. (Nasdaq: RUM) ("Rumble" or the "Company”), the video sharing platform and cloud services provider, today announced financial results for the fiscal quarter and full year ended December 31, 2023.
Q4 2023 and Full Year Key Highlights
Revenue for the full year 2023 increased 106% to $81.0 million, compared to $39.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. Fourth quarter revenue increased to $20.4 million, compared to $20.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2022, and $18.0 million in the third quarter of 2023.
Average global Monthly Active Users (“MAUs”) of 67 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, an increase of 16% from 58 million in the third quarter of 2023. Of the 67 million MAUs, 48 million were based in the U.S. and Canada.
Average estimated Minutes Watched Per Month (“MWPM”) were 10.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to 10.7 billion in the third quarter of 2023. Estimated MWPM is derived from bandwidth consumption metrics. For additional details, please see “Notes on KPIs,” below, and the “Key Business Metrics” section of Rumble’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023.
Hours of uploaded video per day increased by 21% to 12,520 in the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to 10,373 in the fourth quarter of 2022, and decreased from 15,700 in the third quarter of 2023, which we believe is due to the previously disclosed impacts resulting from YouTube’s decision to disable tools that allowed for the automatic sync of creators’ YouTube and Rumble channels.
As of December 31, 2023, Rumble’s balance of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities was approximately $219.5 million.
Launched the beta release of Rumble Studio, an all-new patent-pending livestreaming tool designed for creators to easily stream video to multiple platforms, invite guests, and engage with audiences.
Continued to launch meaningful feature enhancements to the Rumble platform, including playlists and watch history on web/desktop, search autocomplete, static stream key for live streaming and many other creator workflow and user interface improvements.
Served as the exclusive livestream platform for the fourth Republican presidential primary debate, gaining over an estimated 950,000 views across all Rumble platforms.
Subsequent to Quarter End Highlights
Publicly launched Rumble Cloud in March 2024, as committed, which is a newly formed infrastructure-as-a-service solution offering a variety of compute, storage and networking packages. Rumble Cloud is primed to provide a new revenue stream for Rumble by capturing a share of the public cloud market by serving a growing segment of businesses that are looking for alternatives to ‘Big Tech.’
On the heels of the Rumble Cloud launch, entered into a strategic partnership with Qinshift, a global leader in managed IT services and solutions, to support Rumble Cloud by leveraging both companies’ expertise, resources and applications while providing Rumble the access to Qinshift’s global footprint to support the long-term operations of Rumble Cloud.
Announced comprehensive strategic partnership with ACP CreativIT to bolster the managed services offering of Rumble Cloud.
Completed rollout of Rumble Studio as a livestreaming tool, laying the foundation for Rumble’s emerging Streaming Marketplace and future monetization features.
Announced a strategic partnership with Barstool Sports combining Rumble’s cross-suite of solutions with access to the full content library of Barstool Sports creators, the provision of Rumble Cloud services to support Barstool and a mutual advertising sales agreement.
Entered a partnership with 1775 Coffee to launch an exclusive Rumble-branded products.
Launched several key monetization features, including: pre-roll video advertising on mobile apps, tipping functionality added to Android, and a livestream contribution feature for U.S. federal political campaigns, which allows channels affiliated with a candidate running for U.S. federal office to receive “tips”—constituting federal campaign contributions—through Rumble during live events.
Management Commentary
Rumble’s Chairman and CEO Chris Pavlovski commented, “As planned, 2023 was a year of product focus for Rumble as we concentrated on execution, prioritizing our infrastructure and product. Today, Rumble has four top-of-the-line products: our video platform, the Rumble Advertising Center (RAC), our unique Rumble Studio platform, and our biggest accomplishment to date, the Rumble Cloud. We have a beautiful business, and I am incredibly proud of the Company we have built and the team behind this incredible undertaking. The fact that today we have this portfolio of assets able to compete in such sizable addressable markets is an unbelievable accomplishment.
“Looking ahead, with our functioning products now online, we expect clarity on the performance of our assets beginning in the second quarter, leading to a stronger topline in the second half of the year. With this solid foundation in place, we are now positioned to benefit from the synergies of our full suite of offerings and focus on selling to yield topline momentum. We continue to stay true to principle, running the un-cancelable highway of the free and open internet that we can proudly offer as a service. With our trajectory for monetization becoming more evident as we progress through 2024, our commitment to deliver long-term value to all stakeholders and our path towards breakeven in 2025 are well underway,” concluded Mr. Pavlovski.
Q4 Financial Summary (Unaudited)
For the three months ended December 31,20232022Variance ($)Variance (%) Revenues$20,391,872$19,957,025$434,8472%Expenses Cost of services (content, hosting and other)$39,541,078$23,532,343$16,008,73568%General and administrative 9,642,888 9,921,846 (278,958)-3%Research and development 3,643,495 2,621,695 1,021,80039%Sales and marketing 3,211,241 2,715,557 495,68418%
For the fourth quarter of 2023, revenue was $20.4 million compared to $20.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2022, an increase of 2%. The increase is due to an increase in other services revenue of $3.5 million, offset by a decrease in advertising revenue of $3.1 million. The increase in other services revenue was driven mainly by subscriptions, content licensing, tipping features, and provision of one-time content.
Cost of services was $39.5 million for the quarter compared to $23.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2022. The increase is due to an increase in programming and content costs of $14.0 million and an increase in hosting expenses and other service costs of $2.0 million.
General and administrative expense was $9.6 million for the quarter, compared to $9.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2022. There was a $1.0 million increase related to the recognition of rights to contingent consideration in connection with the Callin acquisition, offset by a $1.3 million decrease in payroll and other administrative expenses, most of which are public company-related, including legal, investor relations, insurance, and other administrative services.
Research and development expense was $3.6 million for the quarter, compared to $2.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2022. The increase was due to an increase in payroll and related expenses of $0.6 million, as well as a $0.4 million increase in costs related to computer hardware, software, and other expenses used in research and development related activity.
Sales and marketing expense was $3.2 million for the quarter, compared to $2.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2022. The increase was due to a $0.6 million increase in staffing-related and consulting service costs, offset by $0.1 million decrease in marketing initiatives in the quarter.
Liquidity
As of December 31, 2023, Rumble had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of approximately $219.5 million.
Outlook
Beginning with the second quarter of 2024, we expect revenue to increase on a sequential basis. As a result of our revenue engines coming online and our guaranteed creator commitments set to significantly decrease by the end of 2024 and into 2025, we continue to move materially towards breakeven in 2025.
Conference Call Webcast Information
Rumble will host a conference call at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time today, Wednesday, March 27, 2024, to discuss its quarterly results. Access to the live webcast and replay of the conference call will be available here and on Rumble's Investor Relations website at investors.rumble.com under 'News & Events.’
Chris Pavlovski, the Chairman and CEO of Rumble, will also be interviewed by Matt Kohrs this evening at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The interview will be accessible here and streamed live on the Matt Kohrs Rumble channel at rumble.com/MattKohrs.
Notes on KPIs
Monthly Active Users ("MAUs").
We use MAUs as a measure of audience engagement to help us understand the volume of users engaged with our content on a monthly basis. MAUs represent the total web, mobile app, and connected TV users of Rumble for each month, which allows us to measure our total user base calculated from data provided by Google, a third-party analytics provider. Google defines “active users” as the number of distinct users who visited your website or application. We have used the Google analytics systems since we first began publicly reporting MAU statistics, and the resulting data have not been independently verified.
As of July 1, 2023, Universal Analytics (“UA”), Google’s analytics platform on which we historically relied for calculating MAUs using company-set parameters, was phased out by Google and ceased processing data. At that time, Google Analytics 4 (“GA4”) succeeded UA as Google’s next-generation analytics platform, which has been used to determine MAUs since the third quarter of 2023 and which we expect to continue to use to determine MAUs in future periods. Although Google has disclosed certain information regarding the transition to GA4, Google does not currently make available sufficient information relating to its new GA4 algorithm for us to determine the full effect of the switch from UA to GA4 on our reported MAUs. Because Google has publicly stated that metrics in UA may be more or less similar to metrics in GA4, and that it is not unusual for there to be apparent discrepancies between the two systems, we are unable to determine whether the transition from UA to GA4 has had a positive or negative effect, or the magnitude of such effect, if any, on our reported MAUs. It is therefore possible that MAUs that we reported based on the UA methodology for periods prior to July 1, 2023, cannot be meaningfully compared to MAUs based on the GA4 methodology in subsequent periods.
Estimated Minutes Watched Per Month ("MWPM").
We use estimated MWPM as a measure of audience engagement to help us understand the volume of users engaged with our content on a monthly basis and the intensity of users’ engagement with the platform. Estimated MWPM represents the monthly average of minutes watched per user within a quarterly period, which helps us measure user engagement. Estimated MWPM is calculated by converting actual bandwidth consumption into minutes watched, using our management’s best estimate of video resolution quality mix and various encoding parameters. We continually seek to improve our best estimates based on our observations of creator and user behavior on the Rumble platform, which changes based on the introduction of new product features, including livestreaming. We are currently limited, however, in our ability to collect data from certain aspects of our systems. These limits may result in errors that are difficult to quantify, especially as the proportion of livestreaming on the Rumble platform increases over time, and as we improve the quality of various video formats by increasing bit rates.
Bandwidth consumption includes video traffic across the entire Rumble platform (website, apps, embedded video, connected TV, RAC, etc.). In addition, our management believes bandwidth consumption includes a nominal amount of non-video traffic on the Rumble and Locals platforms and a potentially significant amount of consumption of Rumble videos outside of the Rumble video player and Rumble apps, due in part to intentional user circumvention of the Rumble platform that, despite our continuous efforts, we are unable to eliminate. Combined, the bandwidth consumption for this traffic may be material and difficult to quantify, resulting in an inability for us to monetize a potentially significant portion of our estimated MWPM.
Hours of Uploaded Video Per Day.
We use the amount of hours of uploaded video per day as a measure of content creation to help us understand the volume of content being created and uploaded to us on a daily basis. In the fourth quarter of 2023, YouTube disabled the ability of its users to utilize our tool that automatically imports videos from creators’ YouTube channels to their Rumble channels, commonly known as the “YouTube sync” tool. We provided additional information about this issue in a current report on Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on January 16, 2024.
About Rumble
Rumble is a high-growth neutral video platform and cloud services provider that is creating the rails and independent infrastructure designed to be immune to cancel culture. Rumble's mission is to restore the Internet to its roots by making it free and open once again. For more information, visit corp.rumble.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release and the associated conference call constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements and include, for example, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows (including revenues, operating expenses, and net income (loss)); our ability to meet working capital needs and cash requirements over the next 12 months; and our expectations regarding future results and certain key performance indicators. Certain of these forward-looking statements can be identified by using words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “intends,” “estimates,” “targets,” “expects,” “endeavors,” “forecasts,” “well underway,” “could,” “a pathway to,” “will,” “may,” “future,” “likely,” “on track to deliver,” “accelerate,” “on a trajectory,” “continues to,” “looks forward to,” “is primed to,” “plans,” “projects,” “assumes,” “should” or other similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, and our actual results could differ materially from future results expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this release are based on our current beliefs and expectations of our management as of the date of this release. These statements are not guarantees or indicative of future performance. Important assumptions and other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those forward- looking statements include, but are not limited to, our ability to grow and manage future growth profitably over time, maintain relationships with customers, compete within our industry and retain key employees; the possibility that we may be adversely impacted by economic, business, and/or competitive factors; our limited operating history makes it difficult to evaluate our business and prospects; our recent and rapid growth may not be indicative of future performance; we may not continue to grow or maintain our active user base, and may not be able to achieve or maintain profitability; risks relating to our ability to attract new advertisers, or the potential loss of existing advertisers or the reduction of or failure by existing advertisers to maintain or increase their advertising budgets; our recently launched cloud business may not achieve success and, as a result, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected; negative media campaigns may adversely impact our financial performance, results of operations, and relationships with our business partners, including content creators and advertisers; spam activity, including inauthentic and fraudulent user activity, if undetected, may contribute, from time to time, to some amount of overstatement of our performance indicators; we collect, store, and process large amounts of user video content and personal information of our users and subscribers and, if our security measures are breached, our sites and applications may be perceived as not being secure, traffic and advertisers may curtail or stop viewing our content or using our services, our business and operating results could be harmed, and we could face governmental investigations and legal claims from users and subscribers; we may fail to comply with applicable privacy laws; we are subject to cybersecurity risks and interruptions or failures in our information technology systems and, notwithstanding our efforts to enhance our protection from such risks, a cyber incident could occur and result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss; we may be found to have infringed on the intellectual property of others, which could expose us to substantial losses or restrict our operations; we may face liability for hosting a variety of tortious or unlawful materials uploaded by third parties, notwithstanding the liability protections of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996; we may face negative publicity for removing, or declining to remove, certain content, regardless of whether such content violated any law; paid endorsements by our content creators may expose us to regulatory risk, liability, and compliance costs, and, as a result, may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations; our traffic growth, engagement, and monetization depend upon effective operation within and compatibility with operating systems, networks, devices, web browsers and standards, including mobile operating systems, networks, and standards that we do not control; our business depends on continued and unimpeded access to our content and services on the internet and, if we or those who engage with our content experience disruptions in internet service, or if internet service providers are able to block, degrade or charge for access to our content and services, we could incur additional expenses and the loss of traffic and advertisers; we face significant market competition, and if we are unable to compete effectively with our competitors for traffic and advertising spend, our business and operating results could be harmed; we rely on data from third parties to calculate certain of our performance metrics and real or perceived inaccuracies in such metrics may harm our reputation and negatively affect our business; changes to our existing content and services could fail to attract traffic and advertisers or fail to generate revenue; we derive the majority of our revenue from advertising and the failure to attract new advertisers, the loss of existing advertisers, or the reduction of or failure by existing advertisers to maintain or increase their advertising budgets would adversely affect our business; we depend on third-party vendors, including internet service providers, advertising networks, and data centers, to provide core services; hosting and delivery costs may increase unexpectedly; we have offered and intend to continue to offer incentives, including economic incentives, to content creators to join our platform, and these arrangements may involve fixed payment obligations that are not contingent on actual revenue or performance metrics generated by the applicable content creator but rather are based on our modeled financial projections for that creator, which if not satisfied may adversely impact our financial performance, results of operations and liquidity; we may be unable to develop or maintain effective internal controls; potential diversion of management’s attention and consumption of resources as a result of acquisitions of other companies and success in integrating and otherwise achieving the benefits of recent and potential acquisitions; we may fail to maintain adequate operational and financial resources or raise additional capital or generate sufficient cash flows; we may be adversely impacted by other economic, business, and/or competitive factors; changes in tax rates, changes in tax treatment of companies engaged in e-commerce, the adoption of new tax legislation, or exposure to additional tax liabilities may adversely impact our financial results; compliance obligations imposed by new privacy laws, laws regulating social media platforms and online speech in certain jurisdictions in which we operate, or industry practices may adversely affect our business; and those additional risks, uncertainties and factors described in more detail under the caption “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, and in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We do not intend, and, except as required by law, we undertake no obligation, to update any of our forward-looking statements after the issuance of this release to reflect any future events or circumstances. Given these risks and uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.
Rumble on Social Media
Investors and others should note that we announce material financial and operational information to our investors using our investor relations website (investors.rumble.com), press releases, SEC filings and public conference calls and webcasts. We also intend to use certain social media accounts as a means of disclosing information about us and our services and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD: the @rumblevideo X (formerly Twitter) account (twitter.com/rumblevideo), the @rumble TRUTH Social account (truthsocial.com/@rumble), the @chrispavlovski X (formerly Twitter) account (twitter.com/chrispavlovski), and the @chris TRUTH Social account (truthsocial.com/@chris), which Chris Pavlovski, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, also uses as a means for personal communications and observations. The information we post through these social media channels may be deemed material. Accordingly, investors should monitor these social media channels in addition to following our press releases, SEC filings and public conference calls and webcasts. The social media channels that we intend to use as a means of disclosing the information described above may be updated from time to time as listed on our investor relations website.
For investor inquiries, please contact:
Shannon Devine
MZ Group, MZ North America
203-741-8811
investors@rumble.com
Source: Rumble Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited)
Three months ended December 31,
Twelve months ended December 31,
2023202220232022 Revenues$20,391,872$19,957,025$80,963,451$39,384,284 Expenses Cost of services (content, hosting, other)$39,541,078$23,532,343$146,156,734$43,745,518General and administrative 9,642,888 9,921,846 37,125,296 16,086,254Research and development 3,643,495 2,621,695 15,721,663 6,342,851Sales and marketing 3,211,241 2,715,557 13,427,021 6,137,860Acquisition-related transaction costs 1,283 (225,000) 1,151,318 1,116,056Amortization and depreciation 1,773,107 631,082 4,850,812 1,556,056Changes in fair value of contingent consideration (213,208) - (1,922,381) - Total expenses 57,599,884 39,197,523 216,510,463 74,984,595 Loss from operations (37,208,012) (19,240,498) (135,547,012) (35,600,311)Interest income 3,095,231 2,784,922 13,594,463 3,019,456Other income (expense) (211,450) 480 (125,511) (49,067)Changes in fair value of warrant liability 1,722,700 15,295,000 2,365,895 21,010,500 Loss before income taxes (32,601,531) (1,160,096) (119,712,165) (11,619,422)Income tax recovery 32,601 215,428 - 215,428Deferred tax recovery 3,291,703 - 3,291,703 - Net loss$(29,277,227)$(944,668)$(116,420,462)$(11,403,994) Loss per share – basic and diluted$(0.14)$(0.00)$(0.58)$(0.05)Weighted-average number of common shares used in computing net loss per share - basic and diluted 201,900,409 202,717,669 201,442,321 242,443,272 Share-based compensation expense included in expenses: Cost of services (content, hosting, other)$2,057,495$249,781$3,994,180$249,781General and administrative 3,162,287 1,400,565 10,686,099 1,582,678Research and development 286,327 36,113 1,016,627 55,479Sales and marketing 137,568 24,305 437,808 45,465 Total share-based compensation expense 5,643,677 1,710,764 16,134,714 1,933,403
Consolidated Balance Sheets
December 31, 2023 2022 Assets Current assets Cash and cash equivalents$218,338,658$337,169,279Marketable securities 1,135,200 1,100,000Accounts receivable 5,440,447 4,748,189Prepaid expenses and other 13,090,072 9,342,691 238,004,377 352,360,159 Other non-current assets 1,626,802 547,589Property and equipment, net 19,689,987 8,844,232Right-of-use assets, net 2,473,903 1,356,454Intangible assets, net 23,262,428 3,211,305Goodwill 10,655,391 662,899 $295,712,888$366,982,638 Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity Current liabilities Accounts payable and accrued liabilities$24,713,203$14,324,696Deferred revenue 7,003,891 1,040,619Income taxes payable - 934Lease liabilities 975,844 583,186Contingent consideration 863,643 - 33,556,581 15,949,435 Lease liabilities, long-term 1,630,837 835,924Contingent consideration, net of current portion 705,717 -Warrant liability 7,696,605 10,062,500Other liability 500,000 500,000 44,089,740 27,347,859Commitments and contingencies (Note 16) Shareholders' equity Preferred shares - -Common shares 768,523 768,357Accumulated deficit (145,203,163) (28,782,701)Additional paid-in capital 396,057,788 367,649,123 251,623,148 339,634,779 $295,712,888$366,982,638
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows For the year ended December 31,20232022 Cash flows provided by (used in) Operating activities Net loss for the period$(116,420,462)$(11,403,994)Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: Amortization and depreciation 4,850,812 1,556,056Share-based compensation 16,283,229 1,933,403Non-cash portion interest expense 58,815 36,621Amortization on right-of-use assets 788,799 528,220Change in fair value of warrants (2,365,895) (21,010,500)Change in fair value of contingent consideration (1,922,381) - Changes in operating assets and liabilities: Accounts receivable (674,981) (2,935,399)Prepaid expenses and other (4,990,778) (9,500,432)Accounts payable and accrued liabilities 9,612,728 7,996,298Deferred revenue 5,963,272 1,010,605Deferred taxes (3,323,744 ) -Operating lease liabilities (770,727) (496,835)Net cash used in operating activities (92,911,313) (32,285,957) Investing activities Purchase of property and equipment (14,572,933) (8,544,398)Purchase of intangible assets (2,915,085) (494,769)Purchase of marketable securities (1,135,200) (1,100,000)Sale of marketable securities 1,100,000 -Cash acquired in connection with Callin acquisition 1,000,989 -Acquisition of North River, net of cash acquired (7,249,085) -Net cash used in investing activities (23,771,314) (10,139,167) Financing activities Taxes paid from net share settlement for share-based compensation (2,107,516) -Proceeds from other liabilities - 250,000Proceeds from Qualifying Transaction - 399,807,596Repurchase of Class C Common Stock - (11,000,000)Repayment of Sponsor loan in connection with Qualifying Transaction - (2,173,353)Share issuance costs (40,478) (54,091,750)Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities (2,147,994) 332,792,493 Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents - (45,465)(Decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents during the period (118,830,621) 290,321,904 Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period 337,169,279 46,847,375Cash and cash equivalents, end of period$218,338,658$337,169,279
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Cybersecurity AI provider Auguria emerges from stealth to solve security operations data overload and cost problems
Source: PR Newswire (US)
Auguria announces its formal entrance into the cybersecurity AI space with seed round funding from SYN Ventures and SentinelOne's S Ventures. Auguria drives the transformation of traditional security operations by encoding generations worth of hard-won human security experience into artificial intelligence (AI) models capable of cutting through a sea of multi-vendor event data.
LADERA RANCH, Calif., March 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Auguria, Inc., a cybersecurity artificial intelligence company, is pleased to announce its emergence from stealth mode after two plus years of software platform development. With an initial investment from SYN Ventures Seed Fund, Auguria is driving the transformation of traditional security operations by optimizing data for human and AI consumption with the industry's first vector-based cybersecurity platform for security operations data integration, transformation and analytics. Auguria's Security Knowledge Layer™, or Auguria SKL™ leverages the latest developments in AI automation techniques to transform, classify, and prioritize massive parallel streams of events, logs, and telemetry produced by technology security infrastructures.
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Cybersecurity AI provider Auguria emerges from stealth to solve security operations data overload and cost problems.
"Companies worldwide are struggling under the weight of millions to billions of security events that their infrastructures are producing. CISOs and their teams often do not know if they are compromised by adversaries because the meaningful clues these systems produce are difficult to isolate and interpret," says Dan Burns, Auguria Board Member and Committee Chairman at SYN Ventures Seed Fund. Burns should know. As CEO and Co-founder of Optiv, which he created in 2015 with the merger of Accuvant and Fishnet Security, he's been a trusted advisor to thousands of firms who've been in this exact situation. Burns expands by saying, "SYN is pitched by multiple companies every week, especially with AI-based ideas, but what stood out about Auguria was how they are cleverly applying AI to solve an enormous problem, that is, data overload, situational awareness, and the cost of data storage."
Auguria is ushering in a new era of cybersecurity where AI understands and automatically adapts to each organization's unique needs. Auguria SKL creates the foundation for AI-driven SecOps, acting as the connective layer between SIEM and data lakes, rich security data sources such as XDR, and language models like copilots and AI assistants. Auguria is unleashing the potential of human-machine teaming for security operations to finally solve the critical challenge of data overload.
Ryan Permeh, Board Observer and Operating Partner & Investor at SYN Ventures, comments on what attracted him to this investment. "Organizations are often on the backfoot as adversaries relentlessly attack. One mitigation effort is to send every bit of telemetry to expensive SIEM analytic platforms with the hope that staff can stop maliciousness before it has a chance to do damage. This isn't working so well anymore because the volume of data needing analysis with the human interpretive touch is in the stratosphere." Permeh, former Chief Scientist at McAfee and co-founder of Cylance, acknowledges that something has to change. "Auguria has figured out a way to eliminate 99% of the noise from event data so that SecOps teams can focus with a high degree of confidence and that the remaining 1% is indeed interesting and actionable. Their SKL platform is highly effective at revealing what was previously unknown in the environment which is a holy grail for threat hunters."
SentinelOne's S Ventures is also an Auguria seed round investor. Shlomi Salem, S Venture's CTO comments, "Amidst data deluge, a significant challenge emerges: distinguishing data related to genuine threats from the multitude of benign noise. This task is not only complex but also critical for effective threat detection and response. Consequently, many organizations opt to retain all gathered data, erring on the side of caution. This approach, however, leads to a substantial increase in SIEM costs." Salem goes on to add, "To mitigate these burgeoning SIEM expenses, a practical strategy involves the meticulous identification and elimination of duplicate, repetitive data, followed by the strategic categorization of the remaining data based on its necessity for either immediate investigation or long-term storage for forensic and compliance purposes. Auguria makes identification of anomalous activity extremely easy while simultaneously unburdening security analysts. And also diverting uninteresting telemetry to storage that is less expensive."
Chris Coulter, Auguria CTO and Co-Founder says, "The giant challenge security teams face today is too much data and too little time. Analytical tools have not kept pace with the ever growing complexity of data. As a result, security teams often develop all sorts of hightouch manual workarounds and often with repurposed tools usually designed for something else. Every security team I speak with says the same thing. They want modern data analysis solutions tailored specifically for security practitioners. This is exactly why we started Auguria. Our methods streamline and automate the entire process, from data ingestion to analysis, to enrichment and prioritization so that analysts can go directly to the step of responding to an incident versus spending vast amounts of time sorting, filtering, and triaging billions of data points. We're super excited that Auguria is already making people's heads turn."
The benefits of the AI automation to SecOps teams are numerous. When processed through the Auguria SKL, data is "de-noised" which is to say AI processes it and determines what is "normal" and therefore of no risk. The data that remains is the proverbial needle in a haystack. By accurately classifying and setting to the side everything that is normal, what comes into focus are the previously unknown tactics and techniques that adversaries are constantly iterating upon. All of this is mapped into a visual ontology to give even greater context. Customers can also send Auguria SKL enriched data back to their analytic platforms so that questions like "show me everything related to the accounting network where Auguria thinks the event is abnormal."
Keith Palumbo, Auguria CEO and Co-Founder says this, "We are thrilled to have the trust of our investors SYN Ventures and S Ventures as we introduce this new technology to the market. We are confident that customers that give us a look will see that we really can help them accelerate and modernize their SIEM operations by feeding in actionable and prioritized data that analysts can managebly act upon while at the same time giving them the option to divert run-of-the-mill, non-controversial events to less expensive storage."
About Auguria
Auguria is driving the transformation of traditional security operations by optimizing data for human and AI consumption with the industry's first vector-based cybersecurity platform for security operations data integration, transformation and analytics
Follow Auguria on linkedin.com/company/auguria-io/ or go to auguria.io for more information.
About SYN Ventures
SYN Ventures (SYN) is a venture capital firm focused on investing in disruptive and innovative security companies in the cybersecurity, industrial security, national defense, privacy, regulatory compliance, and data governance industries. Learn more at synventures.com.
About S Ventures
S Ventures, is the venture capital arm of SentinelOne (NYSE:S). SentinelOne's mission is to defeat every attack, every second, of every day. Learn more at sentinelone.com.
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SOURCE Auguria, Inc.
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Copyright 2024 PR Newswire
Cleveland-Cliffs Selected to Receive $575 Million in US Department of Energy Investments for Two Projects to Accelerate Industrial Decarbonization Technologies
Source: Business Wire
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: CLF) announced today that two of its projects have been selected for award negotiations for up to $575 million in total funding from the United States Department of Energy (DOE) to pursue two decarbonization investments at Middletown Works in Ohio and Butler Works in Pennsylvania. Following successful negotiations, these projects will allow for substantial reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across the Cliffs’ footprint and will also create efficiencies that meaningfully drive down operating costs while securing and growing good-paying Union jobs. This federal funding is being made available through DOE’s Industrial Demonstrations Program funded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.
Middletown Works DRI Plant and Electric Melting Furnaces (up to $500 million grant)
If awarded, the Company would replace its existing blast furnace at its Middletown Works Facility in Middletown, Ohio with a 2.5mtpa Hydrogen-Ready Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) Plant and two 120 MW Electric Melting Furnaces (EMF) to feed molten iron to the existing infrastructure already on site, including the BOF, Caster, Hot Strip Mill, and various finishing facilities. Middletown will maintain its existing raw steel production capacity of approximately 3 million net tons per year and will no longer use coke for iron production. The EMF technology is well established and, together with the injection of hydrogen in blast furnaces, is a preferred route for meaningful reduction in carbon emissions for integrated steelmakers worldwide.
The process will dramatically reduce carbon emissions intensity, and will consolidate Middletown Works as the most advanced, lowest GHG emitting integrated iron and steel facility in the world. The facility will have the flexibility to be fueled by natural gas, which would reduce current ironmaking carbon intensity by over 50%; a mix of natural gas and clean Hydrogen; or clean Hydrogen, which would reduce current ironmaking carbon intensity by over 90%.
Hydrogen demand from this “flex-fuel” DRI plant stands to support DOE’s “Hydrogen Earthshot” and DOE’s Hydrogen hub initiatives.
The new facility is expected to reduce production costs by approximately $150 per net ton of liquid steel produced, or a $450 million annual savings relative to the existing configuration. These savings do not consider any of the premiums expected to be generated from sales of low-carbon steel, such as Cliffs H2™ and Cliffs HMAX™.
This investment will secure 2,500 jobs at Middletown Works, where the unionized workforce is represented by the International Association of Machinists (IAM). The flex-fuel DRI plant and EMFs will require 170 additional jobs. The project will result in 1,200 building trades jobs during peak construction.
As the DRI facility can be fed with standard, blast-furnace grade pellets, the project will take full advantage of the Company’s United Steelworkers (USW) represented iron ore mining and pelletizing units. The new configuration also avoids the use of significant amounts of prime scrap metal, which Cliffs anticipates will become shorter in supply and higher in cost throughout the rest of the decade. The process will also allow Cliffs to maintain the level of quality of the steel produced, which would otherwise be degraded with increased scrap usage, maintaining the Company’s leading position in the automotive end market.
The net capital outlay for Cliffs will be approximately $1.3 billion, net of capital avoidance on the existing blast furnace and coke plants, over a 5-year period primarily starting in 2025 and expected to conclude by 2029. Cliffs’ portion will be funded using liquidity on hand and its own free cash flow generation. The Middletown site offers enough available space to construct the new facility without encumbering the existing processes, effectively eliminating interference risks during the construction and commissioning phase. Cliffs thanks both Midrex and Hatch for their collaboration in developing the initial planning for this transformational project.
The Company does not anticipate any material capital spending related to this project to occur in 2024 and maintains its current capital expenditures outlook for this year, reiterating its capital allocation priorities currently focused on executing more aggressive share buybacks.
Butler Works Induction Reheat Furnaces (up to $75 million grant)
If awarded, Cliffs would also replace two of its existing natural-gas fired high-temperature slab reheat furnaces at Butler Works in Butler, Pennsylvania with four Electrified Induction Slab Reheat Furnaces, to bring optimum efficiency to its production of electrical steels, a critical component of the electrification of America and the greening of the electrical grid.
The primary benefits of this project are lower carbon emissions, substantially reduced energy costs and improvements in slab quality, allowing for approximately 25,000 tons of additional production capacity from improved process yield. This investment will secure 1,300 jobs at Butler Works, where employees are represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW). The project will require 220 building trades jobs at peak construction.
The company also expects to generate approximately $80 million in annual cost savings and yield improvements following the installation of the new equipment. The net cost of this facility to Cliffs is expected to be $100 million spent over a 4-year period.
Lourenco Goncalves, Cliffs’ Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer said: “Completion of our $1 billion clean hydrogen-ready Toledo DR Plant through the depths of COVID stood as strong evidence of Cliffs’ expertise and resolve to drive down emissions. We are grateful for the support of the Department of Energy and their recognition of Cleveland-Cliffs’ strong leadership in steel decarbonization. Through these selections, DOE recognized and rewarded Cleveland-Cliffs’ track record of successfully executing large capital projects that result in operational efficiencies and lower GHG emissions.”
Mr. Goncalves added: “The investment at Middletown Works is confirmation that Cleveland-Cliffs is the benchmark for iron and steelmaking technology in the world, ahead of Japan, Korea, Europe, and China. Our experience in using natural gas has seamlessly catalyzed our transition into using hydrogen. Middletown and Butler Works are both critically important to the success of Cleveland-Cliffs and the industrial might of the United States. Both plants support good-paying, middle-class union jobs. We appreciate the Biden Administration’s shared belief that union jobs are essential for continued success of manufacturing, supply chains, infrastructure, and defense in the United States. In addition, these projects have remarkably strong IRR’s and short payback periods. The Department of Energy has facilitated a perfect situation for our union workforce, our decarbonization endeavors, our communities in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and our shareholders.”
U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown stated, “This partnership will ensure that IAM steelworkers in Middletown remain at the forefront of the global steel industry. This is why we passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act – to ensure Ohio manufacturing continues to lead the world in the technologies that will drive our economy for decades to come.” Brown continued, “The Cleveland-Cliffs Middletown Works plant will support growing industries in Ohio while creating good-paying jobs, and ensuring that Ohio remains a national leader in manufacturing and innovation.”
About Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.
Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest flat-rolled steel producer in North America. Founded in 1847 as a mine operator, Cliffs also is the largest manufacturer of iron ore pellets in North America. The Company is vertically integrated from mined raw materials, direct reduced iron, and ferrous scrap to primary steelmaking and downstream finishing, stamping, tooling, and tubing. Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest supplier of steel to the automotive industry in North America and serves a diverse range of other markets due to its comprehensive offering of flat-rolled steel products. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland-Cliffs employs approximately 28,000 people across its operations in the United States and Canada.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains statements that constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the federal securities laws. All statements other than historical facts, including, without limitation, statements regarding our current expectations, estimates and projections about our industry or our businesses, are forward-looking statements. We caution investors that any forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results and future trends to differ materially from those matters expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Among the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those described in forward-looking statements are the following: continued volatility of steel, iron ore and scrap metal market prices, which directly and indirectly impact the prices of the products that we sell to our customers; uncertainties associated with the highly competitive and cyclical steel industry and our reliance on the demand for steel from the automotive industry; potential weaknesses and uncertainties in global economic conditions, excess global steelmaking capacity, oversupply of iron ore, prevalence of steel imports and reduced market demand; severe financial hardship, bankruptcy, temporary or permanent shutdowns or operational challenges of one or more of our major customers, key suppliers or contractors, which, among other adverse effects, could disrupt our operations or lead to reduced demand for our products, increased difficulty collecting receivables, and customers and/or suppliers asserting force majeure or other reasons for not performing their contractual obligations to us; risks related to U.S. government actions with respect to Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (as amended by the Trade Act of 1974), the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and/or other trade agreements, tariffs, treaties or policies, as well as the uncertainty of obtaining and maintaining effective antidumping and countervailing duty orders to counteract the harmful effects of unfairly traded imports; impacts of existing and increasing governmental regulation, including potential environmental regulations relating to climate change and carbon emissions, and related costs and liabilities, including failure to receive or maintain required operating and environmental permits, approvals, modifications or other authorizations of, or from, any governmental or regulatory authority and costs related to implementing improvements to ensure compliance with regulatory changes, including potential financial assurance requirements, and reclamation and remediation obligations; potential impacts to the environment or exposure to hazardous substances resulting from our operations; our ability to maintain adequate liquidity, our level of indebtedness and the availability of capital could limit our financial flexibility and cash flow necessary to fund working capital, planned capital expenditures, acquisitions, and other general corporate purposes or ongoing needs of our business, or to repurchase our common shares; our ability to reduce our indebtedness or return capital to shareholders within the currently expected timeframes or at all; adverse changes in credit ratings, interest rates, foreign currency rates and tax laws; the outcome of, and costs incurred in connection with, lawsuits, claims, arbitrations or governmental proceedings relating to commercial and business disputes, antitrust claims, environmental matters, government investigations, occupational or personal injury claims, property-related matters, labor and employment matters, or suits involving legacy operations and other matters; supply chain disruptions or changes in the cost, quality or availability of energy sources, including electricity, natural gas and diesel fuel, critical raw materials and supplies, including iron ore, industrial gases, graphite electrodes, scrap metal, chrome, zinc, other alloys, coke and metallurgical coal, and critical manufacturing equipment and spare parts; problems or disruptions associated with transporting products to our customers, moving manufacturing inputs or products internally among our facilities, or suppliers transporting raw materials to us; the risk that the cost or time to implement a strategic or sustaining capital project may prove to be greater than originally anticipated; our ability to consummate any public or private acquisition transactions and to realize any or all of the anticipated benefits or estimated future synergies, as well as to successfully integrate any acquired businesses into our existing businesses; uncertainties associated with natural or human-caused disasters, adverse weather conditions, unanticipated geological conditions, critical equipment failures, infectious disease outbreaks, tailings dam failures and other unexpected events; cybersecurity incidents relating to, disruptions in, or failures of, information technology systems that are managed by us or third parties that host or have access to our data or systems, including the loss, theft or corruption of sensitive or essential business or personal information and the inability to access or control systems; liabilities and costs arising in connection with any business decisions to temporarily or indefinitely idle or permanently close an operating facility or mine, which could adversely impact the carrying value of associated assets and give rise to impairment charges or closure and reclamation obligations, as well as uncertainties associated with restarting any previously idled operating facility or mine; our level of self-insurance and our ability to obtain sufficient third-party insurance to adequately cover potential adverse events and business risks; uncertainties associated with our ability to meet customers’ and suppliers’ decarbonization goals and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions in alignment with our own announced targets; challenges to maintaining our social license to operate with our stakeholders, including the impacts of our operations on local communities, reputational impacts of operating in a carbon-intensive industry that produces greenhouse gas emissions, and our ability to foster a consistent operational and safety track record; our actual economic mineral reserves or reductions in current mineral reserve estimates, and any title defect or loss of any lease, license, easement or other possessory interest for any mining property; our ability to maintain satisfactory labor relations with unions and employees; unanticipated or higher costs associated with pension and other post-employment benefit obligations resulting from changes in the value of plan assets or contribution increases required for unfunded obligations; uncertain availability or cost of skilled workers to fill critical operational positions and potential labor shortages caused by experienced employee attrition or otherwise, as well as our ability to attract, hire, develop and retain key personnel; the amount and timing of any repurchases of our common shares; and potential significant deficiencies or material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting.
For additional factors affecting the business of Cliffs, refer to Part I – Item 1A. Risk Factors of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, and other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
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