Mining company CEO tears into analysts

The CEO of amining company exploded at Wall Street analysts on Friday, saying they can’t read financial reports and should resign.

Lourenco Goncalves told analysts on a conference call that they didn’t understand his company, Clevel and-Cliffs Inc., or even their own businesses.

“You guys should resign for your lack of knowledge of things,” the CEO said. “You are a disaster. You are an embarrassment to your parents.”

Therant earned Goncalves an invitation to appear later on CNBC, but Cleveland- Cliffs shares sank nearly 8 percent in afternoon trading.

The call occurred after the company reported a third- quarter profit of $ 437.8 million, slightly below expectations. After giving a routine rundown of the quarter, Goncalves went on the attack during a question- and- answer period.

The CEO seemed particularly perturbed with one analyst, whomhe did not name.

“We are going to screw this guy so badly that I don’t believe that theywill be able to only resign. Theywill have to commit suicide,” Goncalves said.

Later, Goncalves called out a Goldman Sachs analyst, asking him, “Why don’t you ask a freaking question?” He was disappointed to learn that the analyst apparently was not on the call.

“You can run, but you can’t hide,” Goncalves said just before ending the call. He vowed to catch up with the analyst at a Goldman Sachs conference, and suggested that the analyst bring an unidentified colleague who studies commodities.

“It will be bad no matter what, but it will be a lot worse if you’re alone,” the CEO said.

The iron- ore mining company said that excluding discontinued operations it earned 64 cents per share in the third quarter. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for 66 cents per share.

Revenue was $ 741.8 million, beating the analysts’ forecast of $ 722.5 million.