MP Materials adjusted profit beats Street on rising rare earths sales

Reuters | May 7, 2026 | 2:27 pm Critical Minerals Markets USA Rare Earth

MP Materials lands $400M deal with Pentagon to boost US magnets supply

Aerial view of Mountain Pass mine and processing plant. (Image courtesy of MP Materials.)

Rare earths company MP Materials posted an adjusted profit on Thursday that beat Wall Street’s expectations due to its price support agreement with the US government and a sales jump that offset rising costs.

Its shares rose 3.7% to $71.68 in after-hours trading.

Rare earths are a group of 17 metals used to make magnets that turn power into motion. The US deal with MP was designed to loosen China’s grip on those materials, which go into weapons, electric vehicles and many electronics.

MP Materials controls the only rare earths mine in North America and processes those critical minerals in California. The company has also built a magnet facility in Texas.

Rare earths surge above price floor given to MP Materials

For the quarter ended March 31, the Las Vegas-based company posted a net loss of $7.9 million, or 4 cents per share, compared to a net loss of $22.7 million, or 14 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.

The quarterly results were boosted by $42.3 million in price protection income from the US government.

Excluding stock-based compensation expenses and other one-time items, MP earned 3 cents per share. By that measure, analysts expected the company to break even for the quarter, according to IBES data from LSEG.

Sales of magnets and rare earths rose during the quarter, pushing the company’s revenue up 49% to $90.6 million. Analysts expected revenue of $76.5 million.

The company’s operating costs jumped 64% to $157 million due partly to spending for starting up its magnetics division.

MP said it received a $32 million prepayment during the quarter from Apple as part of a magnet supply deal inked last July.

(By Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Sonali Paul)