MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Down 6.9% – Here’s Why

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) dropped 6.9% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $58.28 and last traded at $62.3750. Approximately 17,179,695 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 59% from the average daily volume of 10,814,796 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.01.

Key Stories Impacting MP Materials

Here are the key news stories impacting MP Materials this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Northlake, Texas approved tax incentives to attract a planned $1 billion rare-earth magnet plant tied to MP’s supply chain expansion — this supports long‑term domestic magnet manufacturing and downstream demand for MP’s materials. Tax breaks OK’d to lure $1 billion rare earth magnet plant to Northlake
• Neutral Sentiment: MP set its Q4 2025 earnings release and webcast for Feb. 26; investors will get updated guidance and details then — a potential near‑term catalyst. MP Materials Announces Date for Fourth Quarter 2025 Financial Results and Webcast
• Neutral Sentiment: MP publicly disputed reports about broader government price protections, calling them misleading — this could limit further reputation-driven selling if the company clarifies existing contracts. MP Materials (MP) Stock Drops as Company Slams “Misleading” Price Protection Report
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that the Biden/Trump administration (sources cited) is backing away from setting critical‑mineral price floors rattled markets — investors fear less federal price support for rare‑earth producers, a key demand driver for MP. Trump administration backs away from setting critical mineral price floors, sources say
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage tying the price-floor headlines to MP’s recent government price guarantees (and DoD ties) pushed selling pressure and volume as traders priced in reduced policy support. Why MP Materials Stock Just Crashed
• Negative Sentiment: Market headlines and commentary flagged the same risk and noted the stock decline, amplifying the move as momentum players and funds adjusted exposure. MP material stock sinks on Trump rare earth price-floor comment. What to do now.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on MP shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. William Blair began coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $68.50 to $71.00 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.91.

MP Materials Trading Down 5.5%

The company has a current ratio of 8.05, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The business’s 50-day moving average is $59.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.90. The firm has a market cap of $10.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -82.75 and a beta of 1.62.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.05. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 50.55%.The company had revenue of $53.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.72 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.12) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MP Materials news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $2,288,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 156,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,399,960. The trade was a 19.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 385,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.94, for a total value of $24,231,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 13,105,965 shares in the company, valued at $824,889,437.10. This represents a 2.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 991,557 shares of company stock worth $62,785,202 in the last 90 days. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in MP Materials during the second quarter worth about $132,238,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 19,314.3% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,013,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,987,000 after acquiring an additional 2,003,091 shares during the period. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 168.4% in the 3rd quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 2,589,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,624,908 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in MP Materials by 76.3% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,921,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,200,000 after buying an additional 1,264,243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of MP Materials by 7.2% in the third quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd now owns 14,861,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $996,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,000 shares in the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About MP Materials

MP Materials Corporation operates as a vertically integrated producer of rare earth materials in North America. The company owns and manages the Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine and Processing Facility in California, the only commercially viable rare earth mining and processing site in the United States. MP Materials extracts, separates and refines critical rare earth elements—such as neodymium, praseodymium, and cerium—which are essential inputs for permanent magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, and various defense applications.

The Mountain Pass mine first began commercial rare earth production in the 1950s and was later operated by Molycorp until its bankruptcy in 2015.