MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Trading Down 4.8% – Here’s What Happened
by Scott Moore · The Cerbat GemMP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP – Get Free Report)’s share price was down 4.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $68.20 and last traded at $69.1370. Approximately 7,667,687 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 10% from the average daily volume of 6,972,962 shares. The stock had previously closed at $72.65.
MP Materials News Summary
Here are the key news stories impacting MP Materials this week:
- Positive Sentiment: MP Materials reported first-quarter EPS of $0.03, beating the loss estimate, while revenue of $90.65 million also topped expectations and rose 49.1% year over year. MP Materials Reports First Quarter 2026 Results
- Positive Sentiment: The company said it delivered record NdPr production and sales, advanced growth projects at Independence and 10X, and maintained its $500 million to $600 million capex plan while targeting a 500-tons-per-month NdPr run rate by the end of 2026. MP Materials Reports First Quarter 2026 Results
- Positive Sentiment: Analysts turned more constructive after the release, with Wedbush raising its price target to $100 from $90 and keeping an outperform rating. Benzinga
- Positive Sentiment: Investor sentiment was also helped by commentary from CEO James Litinsky that geopolitical tensions could accelerate demand for rare earth magnets, reinforcing MP’s strategic importance. Iran war points to ‘huge demand accelerant for rare earth magnetics,’ MP Materials CEO says
- Neutral Sentiment: Media coverage and earnings-call recaps are keeping MP Materials in focus, but they largely reiterate the same story: improving production, stronger sales, and a big long-term domestic rare-earth opportunity. MP Materials Corp. (MP) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
- Negative Sentiment: Despite the beat, the stock pulled back as investors focused on rising costs, weak momentum, and a premium valuation, suggesting the quarter was good but not enough to eliminate execution concerns. MP Dips 5% Despite Q1 Earnings Beat: How to Play the Stock?
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research analysts have issued reports on MP shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on MP Materials from $71.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. TD Securities upgraded MP Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Wedbush boosted their price target on MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded MP Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MP Materials has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.33.
Read Our Latest Research Report on MP
MP Materials Stock Performance
The company has a market capitalization of $12.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -160.97 and a beta of 1.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 7.24 and a quick ratio of 6.67. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $58.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.65.
MP Materials (NYSE:MP – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $90.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $74.82 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 2.37% and a negative net margin of 28.00%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 49.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.12) earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post 0.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Insider Activity at MP Materials
In related news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 109,017 shares in the company, valued at $8,176,275. This represents a 15.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 259,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.03, for a total value of $16,595,231.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,505,965 shares in the company, valued at $800,756,938.95. The trade was a 2.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 366,000 shares of company stock worth $23,469,816 over the last quarter. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Institutional Trading of MP Materials
Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd lifted its stake in MP Materials by 7.2% in the third quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd now owns 14,861,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $996,741,000 after buying an additional 1,000,000 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in MP Materials by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,479,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $731,519,000 after buying an additional 459,213 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in MP Materials by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,597,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,325,000 after buying an additional 769,517 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in MP Materials by 76.3% in the second 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 period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in MP Materials by 71.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,834,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,220,000 after buying an additional 1,183,307 shares during the period. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
MP Materials Company Profile
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.