MP Materials Stock Snapped a 4-Day Winning Streak. What’s Drove Shares Lower.

An aerial view of MP Materials’ Mountain Pass mine. (Courtesy MP Materials)

Key Points

• MP Materials stock declined 2.2% to $96.50 in premarket trading, putting the stock on course to end a four-day streak of gains.
• Shares of MP Materials had risen 40% over the past five days.
• The rare-earth sector’s outperformance intensified after President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement in response to China’s export restrictions.

MP Materials stock moved lower on Wednesday despite a new top target price on Wall Street, snapping a streak of four straight gains.

The stock dropped 8.9%, closing at $89.85. Coming into Wednesday trading, shares had gained 40% over the last five days. The S&P 500 and the Dow have fallen 1.6% and 0.7%, respectively, over the same period.

Wednesday’s drop came, even though BofA Securities analyst Lawson Winder hiked his price target to $112 from $78 and kept his Buy rating. Winder’s target is the highest among major U.S. brokers, according to FactSet.

China, which controls some 85% of rare-earth material processing, drove the change by moving to restrict exports. The actions “highlight the need for Western magnet makers and end-users to prioritize supply security and ex-China supply chains,” wrote Winder.

Nonetheless, Winder sees a path for MP to $1 billion in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, or Ebitda, by 2029. MP is expected to generate about $300 million in Ebitda in 2026, according to FactSet.

China’s actions prompted President Donald Trump to threaten new tariffs on China. The escalating trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies had the broader market on edge as well.

But the spat boosted MP and peers, including USA Rare Earth , Ramaco Resources, Critical Metals , and Energy Fuels. Those stocks were all down on Wednesday following enormous gains.

MP has been in focus as the largest rare-earth producer in the Western Hemisphere. The Las Vegas-based company makes neodymium and praseodymium oxides, components needed in the magnets used for many high-tech products like electric vehicles and F-35 fighter jets.

Write to Elsa Ohlen at elsa.ohlen@barrons.com and Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com