MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Down 1.7% – Should You Sell?

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) fell 1.7% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $57.01 and last traded at $58.9770. 6,826,458 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 20% from the average session volume of 8,504,578 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.00.

MP Materials News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Posted fourth-quarter profit and an earnings-per-share beat (first profitable quarter of the year), driven in part by a government price-protection payment — evidence of improving profitability. MP Materials Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Announced a large-scale, vertically integrated rare-earth magnet campus (“10X”) in Northlake, Texas — a $1.25B investment intended to secure U.S. magnet manufacturing capacity and deepen long-term addressable markets. MP Materials Selects Northlake, Texas, as the Site of “10X”
• Positive Sentiment: Reported operational progress: doubled NdPr oxide output year-over-year, produced first NdFeB magnets on commercial equipment and increased REO production — supporting the company’s move up the value chain. Q4 Highlights & Production Details
• Positive Sentiment: Signed a supply deal with an unnamed automaker, indicating commercial demand for U.S.-sourced rare-earths and potential recurring revenue streams. MP Materials inks rare earths deal with mystery automaker
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts note MP may hold a near-term edge over peers like USA Rare Earth as U.S. magnet capacity ramps, but competitive and execution risks remain. MP Materials vs. USA Rare Earth: Which Rare-Earth Stock has an Edge?
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings-call materials and transcripts provide more detail on production ramps and strategy; these give visibility but little near-term clarity on revenue recovery after policy-driven changes. Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue fell ~14% year-over-year and missed estimates after MP halted rare-earth sales to China under a U.S. government agreement; the top-line weakness pressured investor sentiment despite the EPS beat. MP Materials Revenue Falls After Halting Rare-Earth Sales to China
• Negative Sentiment: The planned $1.25B campus, while strategically important, increases capital intensity and execution risk — investors may worry about funding, timelines and near-term margin pressure absent clearer funding sources beyond government support. MP Materials posts Q4 profit, unveils $1.25B Texas magnet factory plans

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of MP Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $68.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $68.50 to $71.00 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. TD Securities raised MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $77.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.91.

MP Materials Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $10.45 billion, a PE ratio of -83.07 and a beta of 1.60. 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 fifty day moving average is $60.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MP Materials news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $9,399,960. This trade represents a 19.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 272,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.17, for a total transaction of $17,492,742.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,805,965 shares in the company, valued at $821,758,774.05. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 723,146 shares of company stock valued at $45,767,276. 9.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MP. Sit Investment Associates Inc. increased its holdings in MP Materials by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. now owns 59,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,000,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in MP Materials by 71.7% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 30,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,560,000 after acquiring an additional 12,897 shares during the period. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 404.4% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 107,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,438,000 after acquiring an additional 86,303 shares during the period. Finally, Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC bought a new position in shares of MP Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $477,000. 52.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.