Sifting through countless of stocks in the Metals & Mining industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. or SSR Mining Inc. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. and SSR Mining Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. and SSR Mining Inc.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. operates as a flat-rolled steel producer in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company offers hot-rolled, cold-rolled, electrogalvanized, hot-dip galvanized and galvannealed, aluminized, galvalume, enameling, and advanced high-strength steel products; austenitic, martensitic, duplex, precipitation hardening, and ferritic stainless-steel products; steel plates; and grain oriented and non-oriented electrical steel products, as well as slab, rail, scrap, iron ore, coal, coke, and tool and die, stamped components. It also provides tubular components, including carbon steel, stainless steel, and electric resistance welded tubing products. In addition, the company offers tin mill products; hot and cold stamp assembly, tooling, and sampling solutions; ingots, rolled blooms, and cast blooms; and hot-briquetted iron products. Further, it owns five iron ore mines in Minnesota and Michigan. The company serves automotive, infrastructure, and manufacturing industries; and distributors and converters, and steel producers. The company was formerly known as Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. and changed its name to Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. in August 2017. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.

SSR Mining Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of precious metal resource properties in the United States, Türkiye, Canada, and Argentina. The company explores for gold doré, copper, silver, lead, and zinc deposits. It holds interests in the Çöpler located in Erzincan province, Turkey; the Marigold situated in Nevada, the United States; the Seabee located in Saskatchewan, Canada; and the Puna situated in Jujuy province, Argentina. The company was formerly known as Silver Standard Resources Inc. and changed its name to SSR Mining Inc. in August 2017. SSR Mining Inc. was incorporated in 1946 and is based in Denver, Colorado.

Latest Metals & Mining and Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., SSR Mining Inc. Stock News

As of January 16, 2026, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. had a $9.0 billion market capitalization, compared to the Metals & Mining median of $2.3 million. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.’s stock is up 5.4% in 2026, up 9.7% in the previous five trading days and up 36.72% in the past year.

Currently, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. does not have a price-earnings ratio. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $18.6 billion with a -9.0% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 3.6%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $-2.479 per share for the current fiscal year. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. does not currently pay a dividend.

As of January 16, 2026, SSR Mining Inc. had a $4.6 billion market cap, putting it in the 67th percentile of all stocks. SSR Mining Inc.’s stock is up 4.3% in 2026, up 3.9% in the previous five trading days and up 209.05% in the past year.

Currently, SSR Mining Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 21.8. SSR Mining Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $1.4 billion with a 15.4% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 49.9%. There are no analysts providing consensus earnings estimates for the current fiscal year. SSR Mining Inc. does not currently pay a dividend.

How We Compare Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. and SSR Mining Inc. Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. and SSR Mining Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. and SSR Mining Inc. Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.	CLF	B
SSR Mining Inc.	SSRM	C

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has a Value Score of 64, which is Value. SSR Mining Inc. has a Value Score of 51, which is Average.

The Value Stock Winner: Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Value Grade breakdown above, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. is considered to have better value than SSR Mining Inc.. For investors who focus solely on a company’s valuation, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. and SSR Mining Inc. Growth Grades

Company	Ticker	Growth
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.	CLF	D
SSR Mining Inc.	SSRM	B

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has a Growth Score of 21, which is Weak. SSR Mining Inc. has a Growth Score of 72, which is Strong.

The Growth Grade Winner: SSR Mining Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Growth Grade breakdown above, SSR Mining Inc. has a more attractive growth grade than Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.. For investors who focus solely on how a company is growing relative to other companies in the same industry, SSR Mining Inc. could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. and SSR Mining Inc.’s Momentum Grades

Company	Ticker	Momentum
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.	CLF	B
SSR Mining Inc.	SSRM	A

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has a Momentum Score of 66, which is Strong. SSR Mining Inc. has a Momentum Score of 93, which is Very Strong.

The Momentum Grade Winner: SSR Mining Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Momentum Grade breakdown above, SSR Mining Inc. is considered to have stronger momentum compared to Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.. For those specifically looking for companies that have stronger momentum compared to other companies in the same industry, SSR Mining Inc. could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Other Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. and SSR Mining Inc. Grades

In addition to Momentum, Value and Growth, A+ Investor also provides grades for Estimate Revisions and Quality.

Earnings estimate revisions scores take into account the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, surprises beget further surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the ranking of key metrics. Specifically, the quality grade is the percentile rank of the composite of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and F-Score.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. and SSR Mining Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. or SSR Mining Inc. Stock?

Overall, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. stock has a Value Score of 64, Growth Score of 21 and Momentum Score of 66.

SSR Mining Inc. stock has a Value Score of 51, Growth Score of 72 and Momentum Score of 93.

Comparing Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. and SSR Mining Inc.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.