MP

MP Materials (NYSE: MP) was America's favorite rare earth mining stock last year -- or, at least, one of the Trump administration's favorite rare earth miners. Indeed, MP stock tripled in 2025, with much of those gains occurring after the Pentagon's public-private partnership with MP was announced last July. At one point last year, MP was up more than 400%, before giving back much of those gains last October. Fast forward to today, and MP Materials is trading about 45% lower than its 52-week high. Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue » But don't let that red number fool you: Despite the stock's sell-off, which was really just a valuation correction, MP is growing stronger and healthier. The stock might not repeat last year's performance. Yet if its recent earnings tell us anything, it's that MP deserves a second look. Here's what you should know. The big takeaway from MP's second quarter was revenue growth. MP managed to pull in about $108 million last quarter, a roughly 89% positive change year-over-year, while adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) swung from a $12.5 loss to positive $28.5 million. The company also reported $17.6 million in Pentagon-related price-protection income. Remember how the Department of Defense agreed last year to a price floor of $110 per kilogram for MP's neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr)? Well, market prices for this vital rare earth compound apparently fell below that level, and the government made up the difference in a roughly $18 million payment. Doubling quarterly revenue was impressive, but it's not the reason this quarter left a strong impression on me. That's owed to the fact that MP is now selling a much more refined NdPr product, while subsequently profiting more from the NdPr that it's selling. That might sound confusing, so let me put it into perspective. For much of its life, MP sold rare-earth concentrate to Chinese companies, which would then use chemicals to free the rare-earth elements from the ore. Rare-earth concentrate has valuable rare earth elements, but since they need to be freed, the concentrate is worth less than selling those rare-earth elements outright. Starting last April, however, MP began to cease selling concentrate, due mainly to the trade war between the U.S. and China. The benefit of that is that MP is now processing the concentrate in-house. This requires more work, but the resulting product is worth more money. Just consider this: In Q2 2025, MP earned about $25 million in NdPr oxide and metal revenue, with about $12 million from concentrate revenue. This last quarter, it had zero revenue from concentrate sales, and $95 million from oxide and metal revenue. Big jump right? And in the right direction, too. MP Material's economics are improving, and its raking in more revenue. For me, the next test is whether its second magnet factory (10X) is on track for commissioning in 2028, as well as prove later that it can scale magnets production significantly. I would not buy MP with the expectation that it will triple in 12 months like it did in 2025, but opening a position at today's price could be worthwhile if you want exposure to American rare-earth mining. Before you buy stock in MP Materials, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and MP Materials wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $429,223!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,317,883!* Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 965% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 212% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 24, 2026. Steven Porrello has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends MP Materials. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Is MP Materials Stock a Buy After Earnings? was originally published by The Motley Fool

Image source: The Motley Fool. Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. ET Head of Investor Relations - Martin Sheehan Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer - James Litinsky Founder and Chief Operating Officer - Michael Rosenthal Chief Financial Officer - Ryan Corbett Operator: Hello, and welcome to the MP Materials Q2 2026 Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] Also as a reminder, this conference is being recorded. If you have any objections, please disconnect at this time. With that, I would like to turn the call over to Martin Sheehan, Head of Investor Relations. Mr. Sheehan, you may begin. Martin Sheehan: Thank you, operator, and good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the MP Materials Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. With me today from MP Materials are Jim Litinsky, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; Michael Rosenthal, Founder and Chief Operating Officer; and Ryan Corbett, Chief Financial Officer. As a reminder, today's discussion will contain forward-looking statements relating to future events and expectations that are subject to various assumptions and caveats. Factors that may cause the company's actual results to differ materially from these statements are included in today's presentation, earnings release, and in our SEC filings. In addition, we have included some non-GAAP financial measures in this presentation. Reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures can be found in today's earnings release and the appendix to today's slide presentation. Any reference in our discussion today to EBITDA means adjusted EBITDA and tons means metric tons. Finally, the earnings release and slide presentation are available on our website. With that, I'll turn the call over to Jim. James Litinsky: Thank you, Martin, and thank you all for joining us today. This was another strong quarter of execution as we continued scaling both our materials and magnetics businesses. We expanded production, broadened our product portfolio, advanced commercial magnet manufacturing, and continued building the next phase of our operating platform. Starting with the Materials segment, we produced 840 metric tons of NdPr, up 41% year-over-year and consistent with our expectations. Despite an extended planned plant shutdown in April, we met our production objectives while continuing to improve throughput as we ramp production at scale. We expect significant volume growth next quarter as we continue progressing toward our targeted year-end NdPr production run rate. Michael will discuss our operational progress in greater detail shortly. Importantly, customer demand continues to outpace our production growth. NdPr sales exceeded 1,000 metric tons for the second consecutive quarter, up 127% year-over-year. As we scale NdPr production, our engineering and operations teams are also advancing 3 major initiatives: commissioning the heavy rare earth separation circuit, restarting our on-site chlor-alkali facility, and breaking ground on our new recycling facility. Michael will discuss these initiatives in greater detail, but I want to highlight that we are actively commissioning our Dy Tb circuit and remain on track to begin shipping product from Mountain Pass to Independence later this year. In July, we entered into a long-term agreement to supply gadolinium oxide to a leading U.S. aerospace and defense manufacturer. This is expected to be a sizable 9-figure deal in total over multiple years that expands our heavy rare earth product portfolio at attractive returns. Our heavy rare earth strategy is deliberately disciplined. We expand our product portfolio where customer demand and attractive returns justify investment, building the Materials segment one product at a time. We believe this approach can continue to expand both our product portfolio and the segment's long-term earnings power. Our operating progress also translated into strong financial performance. The Materials segment generated $113.2 million of revenue plus PPA income and $32.5 million of adjusted EBITDA, a $45 million year-over-year improvement. Turning to Magnetics. Start-up and customer qualification activities at Independence continue to advance. During the quarter, we delivered magnets to GM for in-vehicle qualification testing, and we continue to expect to begin commercial shipments in the fourth quarter, followed by a steady production ramp. Precursor production generated adjusted EBITDA margins exceeding 40%, highlighting the earnings potential of the Magnetic segment as we continue scaling the business. Ryan will discuss how the economics of the segment evolve as we ramp commercial magnet production over the coming quarters. At the same time, construction of our 10X facility continues to accelerate. Foundation work is underway. Long lead production equipment has been ordered, and we are prepared to begin vertical construction shortly. As we ramp Independence, we are already building the next phase of America's domestic magnet manufacturing platform. Demand for secure large-scale magnet manufacturing continues to grow. Structural supply constraints remain, and we continue to see strong interest from customers across automotive, industrial, aerospace, defense, and emerging physical AI applications. With Independence substantially committed and the Department of War supporting the development of 10X, we are able to be disciplined in selecting long-term partners and structuring commercial agreements that reflect the strategic value of domestic magnet manufacturing. We expect to have additional customer announcements over time. One area of particularly strong interest is autonomous systems. Over the past several months, we have worked with U.S. and allied drone manufacturers to launch Project Swarm, an industrial coordination initiative designed to aggregate and standardize future magnet demand. We have already signed subscription agreements with a number of participants. Rather than asking emerging companies to make long-term purchasing commitments before their products are fully developed, Project Swarm allows them to secure future manufacturing capacity today while preserving the flexibility to continue innovating. Project Swarm reflects our belief that industrial leadership requires more than manufacturing capacity. It also requires helping coordinate the ecosystem around it. By reducing supply chain uncertainty, we can help innovative companies focus on building the next generation of autonomous systems while strengthening America's industrial base and building long-term shareholder value. With that, let me turn the call over to Ryan. Ryan? Ryan Corbett: Thanks, Jim. The company generated $126.1 million of revenue and PPA income, more than doubling last year's revenue, driven primarily by the 127% increase in sales volumes of NdPr. The higher revenue and PPA income contributed to consolidated adjusted EBITDA of $28.5 million in the quarter, a $41 million improvement year-over-year. These factors also drove adjusted diluted EPS to improve $0.12 to a loss of $0.01 per share. On a sequential basis, materials revenue plus PPA income was essentially flat with identical sales volumes and the impact of the price floor. Magnetics revenue declined slightly, which was driven by a much higher proportion of costs being attributable to the start-up of magnet production versus precursor product production, which impacts the pricing of our metal products ahead of commercial magnet production. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA declined modestly, primarily reflecting the costs associated with the planned biannual plant shutdown at Mountain Pass and the transition period of Magnetics ahead of commercial magnet revenue. Looking ahead to Q3, regarding pricing, our current view of sales mix and timing suggests that realized pricing for NdPr oxide sales will be in the high 90s per kilogram, leaving PPA income to come in at roughly $10 per kilogram. With market pricing hovering at about $110 per kilogram in the first part of Q3, we continue to expect minimal PPA income from stockpiled NdPr contained in concentrate that is stored in inventory, so would expect a slight sequential decline in overall PPA income. Given timing of shipments and metallization lead times, we expect sales volumes in the Materials segment to be flattish, depending on the ultimate sales mix. As of June 30, we had approximately 650 metric tons of NdPr oxide and metal on hand in transit at toll processors or waiting for shipment. Turning to Magnetics. The segment delivered another solid quarter of revenue and EBITDA performance, declining slightly sequentially as we discussed on our last call. This leaves approximately $46 million of prepaid revenue to be earned for magnetic precursor products over the next 3 to 4 quarters on a modestly declining basis quarter-to-quarter. Once this pre-payment is fully recognized, we will no longer expect to produce these products for external sale and instead will dedicate metal production capacity towards our needs for the manufacture and delivery of finished magnets. As Jim also noted, we expect initial commercial magnet deliveries to start within the fourth quarter, beginning with modest volumes with capacity ramping over the following quarters. As I mentioned last quarter, in the short term, financials period-to-period will be impacted by the eventual roll-off of precursor product deliveries, the early scaling of magnet production, timing of certain product testing milestones at our customers' facilities, as well as investments in our team and product development capabilities. Importantly, these efforts will pay off not only for scaled production for GM, but also our follow-on contracts with Apple and the Department of War as well as other future customers. Regarding cash flow, CapEx in the quarter was $230.3 million with a little over 60% attributable to the Magnetic segment. Note that in the second quarter, we acquired the 10X site for approximately $80 million. This brings our year-to-date spend to $308 million as of June 30. We continue to expect full year CapEx spend to be in the $500 million to $600 million range. Lastly, on the balance sheet, we ended the quarter with $1.45 billion of cash and short-term investments, together with expected improvements to operating cash flow from growing oxide sales, related cost reductions, as well as magnet production. This fully funds our long-term capital plan and preserves our fortress balance sheet. With that, let me turn it over to Michael. Michael? Michael Rosenthal: Thanks, Ryan. Operationally, it was another solid quarter across both the Materials and Magnetics divisions as we continue to increase production while investing in the next phase of growth. At Mountain Pass, results were generally in line with expectations. Upstream production was solid. As we noted on our Q1 call, Q2 included our scheduled semi-annual maintenance outage and results reflected the normal effects of shutdown, maintenance, and restart activities associated with that work. Unrelated projects extended the downtime and that, along with the effects of certain pilot testing, contributed to the year-over-year comparisons. During the quarter, we advanced several important initiatives in the upstream business, including a full plant reagent trial that delivered very encouraging results. When implemented, we expect this change to sustain current performance while affording a positive impact on reclaimed water quality and providing greater resiliency in our supply chain, albeit at a modestly higher direct cost. We also expanded pilot testing of a new pre-flot process that we now anticipate implementing at scale by 2028. This initiative will improve concentrate quality, but more important benefits may be realized in our mid-stream circuits with lower operating costs, improved uptime, and higher finished product quality. As I've discussed previously, we continue to look for both traditional and innovative ways to unlock additional value from the world-class Mountain Pass ore body. We are highly encouraged by early exploratory drilling results that suggest the potential for additional ore within the existing pit contours. Combined with ongoing advancements in flotation performance, a growing ability to manage variability in ore and gangue mineralogy, and several promising ore pre-concentration initiatives, I am increasingly confident in the long-term development potential of this unique asset. More to come on this in the coming quarters. In our mid-stream operations, performance continues to show significant year-over-year growth and steady sequential improvement adjusted for scheduled downtime. Most of our circuits are performing very well, and we are seeing encouraging progress across the operation. Through targeted equipment upgrades and process enhancements, we are addressing the handful of circuits that continue to present reliability challenges affecting yield and throughput. While intermittent one-off issues occasionally impact production, overall plant reliability, throughput, and operational consistency continue to trend in the right direction. Based on current performance, I expect Q3 NdPr production to exceed 1,000 metric tons. The past 3 months have been particularly fruitful for our growth initiatives. In May, we achieved mechanical completion of our first heavy rare earth separation circuit. Since then, the team has been focused on punch list completion, equipment checkouts, and completing initial commissioning activities. We are preparing to introduce feed to the circuit imminently. While the exact ramp will ultimately depend on the realities of commissioning a new circuit at scale and prioritizing quality over quantity, we remain on track to produce terbium and dysprosium later this year. We also made significant progress on our samarium program, advancing both engineering and procurement and are planning first production in 2028. As Jim noted, we are excited to have secured a long-term commercial arrangement for gadolinium at attractive economics. Combined with the technical success of an extended pilot campaign, we are now moving forward with engineering and procurement to complete the gadolinium separation project on a similar time line. In the quarter, we finished clearing land and demolition of previously retired assets and are planning to break ground this month on an expanded area that will house both magnet recycling and additional heavy rare earth separation and finishing. This marks another important step in expanding the range of products and value-added capabilities at Mountain Pass. Lastly, we continue to make meaningful forward progress on our chlor-alkali recommissioning effort. Several important milestones were achieved during the quarter, including bringing additional brine pre-treatment online. We are already seeing positive results in crystallizer performance, providing an encouraging early indication of the operational benefits we expect the chlor-alkali project to deliver. Our Magnetics operation also had an extremely productive quarter. We made substantial progress in GM customer qualification activities while continuing to scale towards 24/7 production across all major processes. Importantly, we are now demonstrating the capability and consistency required to support our customers' volume ramp, clearing one of the most important milestones in the qualification process. Achieving these milestones required extraordinary effort across the organization. As expected at this stage of the ramp, the team has had to work through a wide range of technical, operational, and customer-driven challenges. As we have said before, the rigor required to meet the auto industry's exacting standards positions us well to serve customers with the most demanding performance requirements. I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished and continue to be impressed by the ingenuity, determination, and unwavering spirit our team brings to the mission every day. While there remains important work ahead, we are making very meaningful progress across the operation, and our foundational customers are increasingly seeing and validating that progress as well. The results of those efforts will become increasingly evident in the quarters ahead. Our partnership with Apple on magnet recycling, magnet production, and joint development continues to advance. At the same time, our engineering team is expanding the portfolio of high-performance magnet-grades we can produce while continuously refining the underlying chemistry. Consistent with what we discussed last quarter, we are steadily reducing the heavy rare earth intensity of our products through both Grain Boundary Diffusion technology and other process innovations across each stage of production, and we expect that trend to continue. Finally, development of the 10X facility is advancing to plan. Learnings from Independence, combined with direct customer feedback are being incorporated into final equipment selections and detailed engineering of the plant. We are leveraging that experience to bring the project forward wherever possible while maintaining the discipline required to successfully execute a project of this scale, and we remain very much on track. Stepping back, one of the most rewarding aspects of this journey is seeing how the knowledge, experience, and capabilities we develop in one area continue to create opportunities in another. Lessons from one facility improve another, new products open additional commercial opportunities, and operational advances create entirely new avenues for growth. That gives me tremendous confidence in both the underlying value of the vertically integrated platform we are building today and the opportunities it will enable us to pursue tomorrow. And with that, I'll hand it back to Jim. James Litinsky: Thanks, Michael. If there's one thing I hope today's update reinforces, it is that industrial companies are not built by assembling assets. They are built by compounding capabilities. Not every quarter is linear, but over time, every quarter should leave the business a little more capable, a little more resilient, and a little more valuable than it was before. That is what we try to do at MP. And I think this quarter was another good example. With that in mind, let me leave you with one broader thought. History suggests that markets often struggle to value general purpose technologies in real-time. During the railroad era, the age of electrification, and more recently, the telecommunications and Internet era, investors understandably became consumed with the same questions. Was too much capital being invested? Would the economics justify the spending? Which companies would ultimately earn attractive returns? Those debates were important, but they often obscured where the largest long-term opportunities would ultimately emerge. The world itself was changing and the most enduring value was ultimately created by those who understood what the new world would require. I believe we are living through another one of those moments. Today's debate is centered on AI infrastructure and the returns on compute. That is an important discussion and market participants should ask those questions. But if history is any guide, the infrastructure phase of a general purpose technology is rarely where its full economic impact becomes apparent. The larger opportunity often emerges when that infrastructure becomes pervasive enough for entrepreneurs to build businesses that redefine entire industries. I believe AI is approaching that transition. The next phase will be defined less by creating intelligence and more by deploying it into the physical economy, into machines that manufacture, move, build, transport, and defend. That transition has implications well beyond technology. Increasingly, governments recognize that the ability to build those machines and the supply chains that support them is itself a strategic capability. We believe that's a structural shift, not a cyclical one. It reinforces our conviction that resilient domestic production of critical materials and components will become increasingly important over the coming decade. Against that backdrop, our responsibility is straightforward. We try to build capabilities that matter over decades. We do that by investing patiently, allocating capital thoughtfully and increasingly by pairing long-term strategic partnerships with contracted cash flows that allow us to keep building through change. We believe that approach allows us to pursue long-term opportunities while managing risk along the way. With that, I will open it up for questions. Operator? Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our first question will come from the line of Lawson Winder with Bank of America Securities. Lawson Winder: Nice quarter. Great update once again. If I may, I'd like to just ask about the defense contract. Congratulations on achieving the first of that. My questions would be multi-part, but all related to this particular contract. To start off, would you describe this as the first of many? And then where do you think it kind of goes from here? And then if you could, maybe speak to how contracts like this might work. So would it be spot price linked or base escalated, there's no spot price exposure? And then just if it's relevant, what is the relevance or significance of gadolinium being the first mineral for this contract? Ryan Corbett: It's Ryan. I'll take that. Yes, obviously, we're very pleased with the progress here. It's a significant offtake agreement, as Jim mentioned in his remarks, a long-term deal, representing 9 figures over time. Importantly, to your point on spot prices, we've locked in economics on this contract. And so I think, importantly, this speaks to our ability to continue to drive incremental value out of the world-class Mountain Pass asset, the ore body, the refining assets, the intellectual capital, the know-how. This is an example of, hopefully, many to come over time. The thing about this contract is the economics with this initial customer are very attractive on a stand-alone basis. But to your point and your question, there is an opportunity to grow volumes over time that would come at significant incremental return given the vast majority of the capital being deployed upfront. In terms of gadolinium being sort of the first that we've announced here, as you'll recall, we had committed in our agreements with the Department of War to begin production of samarium in 2028. The way that we will approach separating out the dysprosium and terbium first, as Michael mentioned, very shortly, that leaves us with an SEG product that we had been evaluating how to maximize the economics from that product set. And this was a very logical way to do that. I think that there is opportunity for us to look at the other heavy rare earths contained in the ore body over time and continue to find interesting ways to grow the earnings power of that business. Operator: Our next question comes from George Gianarikas with Canaccord Genuity. George Gianarikas: Maybe rebuilding the critical material supply chain is as much a human capital challenge as it is a technical one. And so this has been out in the press recently. But to what extent is the broader domestic shortage of specialized talent, whether it's engineers or metallurgists, how is that impacting your ability to scale 10X and the other facilities you have planned? James Litinsky: Well, I think I'll start and then maybe Mike -- I mean, certainly, as we look around the country and, really, around the world, but particularly in America, we have an enormous onshoring construction boom happening, right, particularly with AI and data centers. And when you think about construction, electricians, pipe fitters runs the gamut of the trades that we need to bring a lot of this stuff online. Getting talent to build things is hard, but this is really something that we have been focused on really since the beginning of life as a company. If you recall, we went public in the middle of COVID in 2020, and we were bringing online our refining assets. And so we've historically -- really all we know as a company is sort of fighting through challenges in supply chain talent and whatnot. With respect to maybe more specific talent, I mean, yes, this is a this is a capability that has not really existed in the country, certainly not on a vertically integrated basis. And it's something that we've been at from the beginning, whether it's at the mine, the refinery, or in building the magnetics business. And so Michael, I don't know if you want to add anything about the engineers and talent. Michael Rosenthal: Yes. I think we -- finding talented people who have experience is -- there's a limited pool of those in this country and in the world. We try to make ourselves an attractive place to work, empower people to do really interesting and exciting things, and give them a lot of resources. So we hope, through that, to be the employer of choice in this industry. And I think we're really, really proud of the team that we've built. James Litinsky: Yes. And one thing I actually used to say this way back when, in the very beginning when we were sort of first public, but talent begets talent, scale begets scale. If you look at the business that we've built, whether it's contracted cash flows from GM, Apple, the Department of War, this new big customer announcement today, we certainly have built the momentum as a company, and we have a lot of people who want to join us on this mission. So we have a lot to build, but it's easier today than it was a few years ago because people know who we are and believe in what we're doing and know that the assets that we're creating are long term and priceless to some extent. George Gianarikas: And if I may ask a follow-up. If -- as you progress -- prospective, excuse me, customers evaluate capacity at 10X, how are those allocation conversations progressing regarding like pricing structure? Are partners willing to agree to things like pricing floors or upfront capital pre-payments to preserve and reserve future production slots? James Litinsky: No, it's an excellent question. I mean, I think, this is really a question for us because we -- when we -- when I look at all of the conversations we're having and the potential demand that we see, I don't lose any sleep about filling out the demand for this facility. I think if we look across the -- let me just -- I'll give you a simple example. If we think about physical AI and all of the growth that we expect, if we were to -- and you can see many other companies talk about the robotics industry, right? If we were to be producing, say, 30 million or 40 million humanoid robots a year in the world, that alone would eat up 100% of the rare earth magnet production globally, including China. And so when you think about that for a moment -- and obviously, the Chinese are going to make a lot of robots. And by the way, we're going to make cars. We're going to make data centers. We're going to make all -- electronics. We're going to make all sorts of things. And so there's just -- there's a lot of demand to come. I actually think that we'll have the ability to be somewhat of a kingmaker in a couple of verticals. And so that is something that we think about, and we're in the good position to be thoughtful because we can be patient because as it stands today, we have everything fully contracted if that's what we want. Lastly, what I would say is that's sort of some of the logic around Project Swarm. Although we are capitalists, we are first and foremost, patriots. And when we look around the world today, certainly, it's quite obvious that drones are at least a portion of the future of warfare. And what we have today developing in the American supply chain is we have dozens of companies, and we talk to them. Obviously, we have a number that are customers now as part of this project. But we have dozens of companies that are getting backed by many billions of dollars and they're trying to innovate. But individually, it's immaterial demand. The entire American drone industry would still be materially smaller than just our GM business as it stands today. Now that's going to change over the next 5 or 10 years. But the point is that we have a unique position and a duty to work with everybody to coordinate, to standardize magnetic- grades around the DOW preferred grades that we're going to be producing at 10X. And so we're just taking -- we're taking the lead in helping coordinate that so that we know that the American companies -- and we don't know who will be the winner, but we want to make sure that any innovating company in America knows that the supply chain will be there for them. MP will be there for them. And so before we sell out the whole facility, so to speak, tongue and cheek, I just want to make sure that the instruments of warfare and national security are taken care of. And so that was sort of some of the thinking behind that. And obviously, that's underway. We have a number of companies that are already signed up, and that should also provide some fruitful opportunities as we grow our business. Operator: Our next question comes from Max Yerrill with BMO. James Litinsky: Why don't we skip Max and come back to him? Operator: No problem. Your next question will come from Brian Lee with Goldman Sachs & Co. Brian Lee: I have a 2-part question, so I'll just ask it all at once. On this new offtake for gadolinium, congrats on that. Just maybe high-level sense of capacity for more heavies offtakes. Just what are the other heavies you could see offtakes on, where are you having the most engagement today? And then secondarily, how to think about those and the economics for those in the context of the 9-digit type deal here you're announcing for gadolinium specifically? Ryan Corbett: It's Ryan. On that front, I mentioned, obviously, that we are underway on the samarium program that Michael gave an update on. And so that is certainly an area where we intend to continue to commercialize that business and respond to the demand that we're seeing in that space. Certainly, I think that there is opportunity for follow-on volume beyond this existing contract on the gadolinium side. There are a number of critical use cases for these products. And it's interesting to see what's going on in the market today. You're seeing large aerospace companies announce difficulties in their supply chain from what they explained is very tiny parts. And I think the reality is it speaks to how critical some of these materials are, powering hundreds of millions and billions of dollars of value downstream of them. And so we expect to continue to see pretty exciting growth opportunities just within that element. I mean you've got the periodic table, so you know all the other elements that are in the ore body. But certainly, we think yttrium is another opportunity set. We will be producing yttrium product and are looking at different ways to maximize the value of that output from the ore body as well. So certainly more to come on that front. James Litinsky: And let me just add one more thing. I want to hit on what Ryan just said because I think it's really important. There are no heavies getting out of China or very limited and magnets are on a licensing basis. And we are in a regime right now of controlled scarcity. So people are sort of getting fed just in time. And what that's actually creating, and we're seeing this behind the scenes with many companies that we talk to, is there's a lot of concern. I mean there's disruption in the supply chain. Obviously, AI is getting all the headlines. But if you look through, and maybe in the coming days, there'll be some reporting or some analyst reports on this, but if you look through the industrial supply chain, particularly in aerospace, we are seeing real disruption. It's not full-on panic yet, but it's real disruption from allocations that have to happen due to scarcity. And so I do think that's going to open up. And obviously, we see it here at the beginning of it, but that's going to really open up some interesting opportunities for us. And it's also something that we need to pay attention to because uneasy detente is not necessarily a condition where we can just sort of be relaxed in the supply chain. It's still very challenging out there. Operator: Our next question comes from Max Yerrill with BMO. Max Yerrill: I think this works now. So very fitting [indiscernible] as always. With the recent U.S. government announcement and then banning the export of magnet scrap, is this changing how you're thinking about developing recycling capacity? And have you seen any new customer inquiries into potentially adding more magnet recycling capacity? Michael Rosenthal: It's Michael. I think recycling has been a part of our vertically integrated strategy for some time. Obviously, we announced the agreement with Apple last year. But this has been kind of part of a challenge throughout the world, which is shipment of critical minerals or byproducts in magnet and also battery supply chains have been challenging, and it creates a problem of supply availability. Now recycling is not just doing the processing, it's also the collection and the aggregation, pre-processing removal from other parts of the assemblies. But this will just highlight the importance of the work that we're doing. We've definitely seen a lot of interest in recycling. Our primary focus is dealing with the process waste from our Independence and 10X in supporting Apple, but we are looking at scaling that business in line with the market conditions. Operator: Our next question comes from Richard Garchitorena with Barclays. Richard Garchitorena: Congratulations on all the progress. My first question is on the commissioning of the Dy Tb circuit that's underway. Is that basically going to be incrementally adding any costs for the second half of this year? You also had semi-annual maintenance in April. I was wondering if that had any impact on cost this quarter. So really, it's a function of how much do you think costs could potentially improve in the second half? Ryan Corbett: It's Ryan. I'll take that. As it relates to the heavy rare earth circuit, certainly, I think we've talked about investments that are apparent in the P&L right now. You mentioned 2 of the most critical ones, the maintenance outage and staffing ahead of heavy rare earth production. If you look at how that will take shape over the course of the rest of the year from a heavy earth perspective on dysprosium and terbium, that will make its way into inventory and then find its way down to Independence and ultimately, we'll recognize the value of those products through magnet sales. And so once we get into sort of full-scale commercial production and we are inventorying those costs, that will come out of the P&L until we ultimately recognize the magnet sale. But in terms of what I think you're getting at on overall cost position in the business, I think we feel increasingly confident that the path to lowering our cost structure is very clear. I think we've said consistently that we need to be operating consistently at our target production levels, and that will give us the benefit of the fixed cost absorption math that we've walked through previously. Beyond that, we see pretty clear opportunities to improve process efficiency, reduce maintenance intensity. And then certainly, as we've talked about, we expect some pretty tangible benefits from bringing chlor-alkali online. In terms of timing of those, we expect those benefits to build progressively through '27 as we consistently produce at a more targeted throughput. Richard Garchitorena: Great. And then as a follow-up, I mean, maybe bigger picture, congratulations again on the signing of the long-term offtake for gadolinium. Can you maybe talk about -- in the prepared remarks, you talked about how demand continues to increase. So should we expect maybe a stronger cadence of new contracts and new announcements? Just curious about negotiations. Are they picking up? Are you getting more inbound incremental demand for capacity that would suggest you probably need to expand from here? James Litinsky: Well, one thing I would say, and we covered this quite a bit on the last call, but I think I have a feeling we'll be continuing to cover it over coming quarters. But I remain convicted in the view that NdPr is the binding constraint. As we look around the world today, we see a lot of magnet facilities intending to come online, a lot of -- there's a number of groups out there that are investing, trying to put things together. And when we talk to companies in the downstream and we look at the markets, I mean, every -- there are a number of verticals, right, whether it's magnetics or your -- in the beginning of the question, you were referencing, heavies. I would say it goes back to the point I was previously making about controlled scarcity, which is sort of the state of the world right now. And that is not an acceptable state. And again, as we referenced earlier, you're seeing in the aerospace industry today, I think there's -- just as an example, not to -- but Honeywell Aerospace lost 1/4 of their value today in what they referenced on their call was $15 million upstream in the supply chain. And so that gives you -- when you're talking about a company that's going to lose $15 million of market cap over $10 million or $15 million of upstream supply from a supplier to one of their suppliers, that is the extent of the problem. And so that's a long-winded way of saying it's really in every vertical. It's in the heavies. But again, I think in magnets -- and I referenced this with robotics, and I try to temper it because nobody knows kind of when and how these things come online. But like take AI and memory for an example, but when ChatGPT hit the market, Micron had a $50 billion enterprise value. Three years later, all of a sudden, people woke up to a dramatic memory squeeze, and it's $1 trillion now. Obviously, these are very different industries, but that's the kind of stuff that I do think is going to happen as more of these physical AI use cases come online. I just don't know which one will happen first, but that's the kind of thing that we're seeing. And so again, with respect to magnets, which is obviously the vast, vast majority of our business, I think NdPr is a binding constraint for all that we see for the foreseeable future. Operator: Our next question comes from Corinne Blanchard with Deutsche Bank. Corinne Blanchard: I would say most of my questions have probably been answered, but maybe if we can go back on the quarter itself and your view going into 3Q. Can you just -- so I think you had like a maybe higher-than-expected Material segment performance this quarter, which did impact a little bit the cost. Can you just maybe talk about how we should think about that going into 3Q and 4Q? Ryan Corbett: Corinne, it's Ryan. I think from a sales perspective, I think sort of dovetailing off of what Jim said, certainly, demand for NdPr remains extremely strong. I think we were fortunate to be able to continue to ramp up available capacity for metallization and things like that to continue the cadence of sales within Q2. I mentioned in my prepared remarks, likely a flattish volume sequentially. A lot of that, of course, really depends on shipment timing, lead times for metallization, and things of that nature. So it is always a bit lumpy, but that's generally what we're seeing from a sequential performance perspective. We've talked in the past about the fact that as we scale production, ultimately, we will continue to build the ultimate tonnage of product within the channel, given the fact that we have multiple outlets to market. And so you should expect as we grow production over the next several quarters, eventually, we will need to fill that channel back up to support the higher volume levels, but that's generally what we're seeing in the short term. Corinne Blanchard: And maybe going back to the China export ban. Do you expect any maybe impact on the reagent or like [ cost ] coming from the export ban list? Or do you expect a very minimal impact? Ryan Corbett: From our perspective, we expect minimal impact given everything you know about us, I don't think any of this came as a shock probably to us or to anyone out there. And so we've been thoughtfully preparing our supply chain to be resilient for a very, very long time. And so the team has done an excellent job on sourcing there. So we don't see any immediate impact. Operator: Our next question comes from Carlos De Alba with MS. Carlos de Alba: Good to see the progress that you're making. On GM, encouraging to know that the initial commercial magnet deliveries will start later in the year. Just wanted to see if you can provide any color from what you have been hearing from them regarding the early qualification and testing that they may have already done with your magnets. Ryan Corbett: Carlos, it's Ryan. We're overall extremely pleased with the progress we've been making with General Motors and with our engagement with them. I think it's important that folks understand the qualification process here is not about whether you're making a magnet to spec. That's a tiny piece of it. It's about staging capacity as we ramp and then versus the needs of the individual motor plants. It's ensuring batch traceability and quality systems of ours are integrated with our customer systems. And then certainly, kind of to your point, it's about having our customer observe, ultimately, the impact to the overall systems across the vehicle when they do a part swap. And so that is a long and painstaking process, but the results that we've been seeing are extremely encouraging. And so as we reiterated, our current expectation is to begin regular production deliveries sometime in the fourth quarter. Carlos de Alba: All right. Okay. Good. And then maybe, Michael, I was intrigued by the planned reagent trial that you guys did. Can you maybe provide more color, particularly on the benefit, the potential increase in cost that you mentioned, and the timing of deployment? Michael Rosenthal: We regularly do the trials of different reagents to ensure resiliency and flexibility. This quarter is probably a bigger one than we've done in some time. I would say, as you know, one of the things that we pride ourselves on is we recycle all of the water in our flotation process from our tailings. So preserving the quality of that is an important consideration. We do expect to make a change in our reagents later this year. The direct cost of the reagent is somewhat higher than our legacy product, but we think the overall benefits outweigh that. And we're looking forward to the change. Overall, we're positive on that change and that the flotation results will be excellent. Carlos de Alba: And maybe just to add up on that, this reagent supplier or reagent material that you're going to use are not from China whatsoever, right? Michael Rosenthal: Correct. Operator: Our next question comes from Bill Peterson with JPMorgan. William Peterson: Can you hear me? James Litinsky: Yes. William Peterson: Nice job on the quarterly execution. Understanding that you expect NdPr to be the long-term bottleneck as you've discussed many times. But overlaying now with the, I guess, tightness of really multiple materials in the near term that you also described, you have your SEG, which can address some of the materials, but how does that inform your expectations of procuring other heavies that may be in short supply given the export restrictions? Are you -- would you still be evaluating acquiring other assets or upsizing recycling efforts, which was something that was mentioned in the prior question? Michael Rosenthal: It's Michael. Thanks for the question. I think what we've been saying for some time is that we've built a heavy rare earth separation circuit that has the ability to process third-party feedstocks, and we also have a site that is capable of handling feedstocks of different type and purity. We think that gives us a lot of flexibility. Certainly, terbium and dysprosium have been the focus for obvious reasons, but we expect to bring in other heavies with that basket. And we've designed for a certain mix of different samarium, gadolinium, terbium, yttrium, et cetera. And to the extent these are valuable and wanted by the market, we're looking at ways to process those. James Litinsky: And as far as overall heavies, I mean, I just -- I do want to stress that -- and we've talked about this a couple of quarters, but we've made remarkable strides in reducing heavies needed as we've advanced our intellectual property and our manufacturing processes and expertise. And the -- and what I would also say is that where we see the big demand use cases in the industry are essentially, if not no heavy, the vast, vast majority of demand is no heavy. And by that, I mean, for example, robotics would be one, but disk drives are another, and there are a number of use cases. And so I think that it's -- I'm not going to say 100% because obviously, we will do some national security-oriented items, and we've talked about drones. But I think that by the time 10X comes online, the vast majority of that facility will be no heavies or very limited heavies. Now obviously, anything can change, and we're flexible and prepared to adapt. And we do see a variety of feedstock opportunities around the world. And so I don't want you to come away as if we're not concerned about, frankly, everything because we've been around this long enough to know that things can change quickly. But to the extent that it's being marketed out there as a reason to invest or a binding constraint, I still go back to -- and if you want to make rare earth magnets and you want to make rare earth magnets for the vast majority of demand use cases, particularly the ones that will be attractive margin business, I think that it's going to be about your ability to create a scaled factory with precision manufacturing, great intellectual property, and it's going to be likely no heavy, at least from an MP standpoint. William Peterson: Yes. That's actually the lead into the next question. You mentioned earlier about the Grain Boundary Diffusion and kind of low or no heavy magnet developments. Is there any milestones or data points you can share in terms of how these magnets are performing compared to conventional magnets? Just -- I think it would be helpful for investors and just to be able to measure your progress on these developments. Michael Rosenthal: I think magnets are produced to meet certain performance requirements and specifications. And so our products are meeting and exceeding the specifications of our customer and the requirements, not just for magnetic performance, but also temperature performance, [ rust ], other factors are considered in that. I think we're really proud of the quality of what we're producing, and we're waiting for additional qualification. But to the extent the question is like the impact of GBD, it's not just GBD that's the factor. The design, the chemistry, the micro-structure, the grain alignment, all these things go into the performance of the magnet and those are the things that we've built a large team of 100-plus engineers and a lot of intellectual property to develop and to continue to develop. And so we're quite pleased with that. James Litinsky: Yes. And just hitting on that. Yes, I was just going to say, remember that -- and Michael has referenced this, but customers don't buy a mix -- customers aren't interested in a mix of what your formulas are. They just want you to hit a spec. And so to the extent that you can use a variety of processes, GBD, manufacturing, precision, et cetera, to improve how you can deliver that, that's really going to be the name of the game. Operator: Our next question comes from Derick Ma with TD Cowen. Derick Ma: I appreciate the commentary on security of supply concerns from automotive, industrial, defense, and other potential counterparties, but we haven't yet seen an acceleration in new magnetics contracts. Why do you think that is? And what do you think needs to happen in the industry to turn those strong demand signals into firm contracts for Independence and 10X? James Litinsky: I'm sorry, maybe it will -- so maybe I'm confused at the premise of the question. Independence is fully sold out between GM and Apple, it's possible that we'll fit another customer or 2 in there. And then 10X is 100% contracted with the Department of War. Now it's likely that in -- when we -- as we start to bring that facility online, we will end up contracting almost all of that capacity to industry as opposed to the Department of War. But maybe I'm confused with the question you're saying we're not contracted? Or what are you trying to... Derick Ma: No, I guess those industrial and automotive and other contracts could take the place of the defense -- Department of War contract. And it's kind of a guarantee of EBITDA, but are you seeing the demand coming from those sources that could replace the contract in 10X, I guess, is what I'm asking? Ryan Corbett: Yes. This is Ryan. I think certainly, the level of activity and customer engagement is extremely high. I think sort of what Jim is getting at is the fact that -- I think we got asked this question the other way earlier, pace of announcements. We are in no rush to announce a deal to announce a deal. I think we're in a very enviable position where the value of the platform that we are able to deliver to customers is becoming more and more apparent by the day. And I think that the needs of those customers are growing more and more apparent by the day. And so again, given the security that we've been provided by this offtake agreement with the Department of War to invest aggressively and quickly -- that does not mean we need to contract quickly and contract in a way that does not maximize long-term value to the company. And so you've seen us do exactly this across every piece of our business, right? We've known we've had a gadolinium product available for sale for a very, very long time. You're hearing us announce it today because we picked the right partner to do that, that provides the right risk-adjusted return on capital. And so you will see us continue to operate the same way we always have, which is to announce something significant when it's ready. Operator: Our next question comes from Matt Summerville with D.A. Davidson. Matt Summerville: Just a couple of quick ones. First, can you kind of talk through the puts and takes in magnetics revenue and EBITDA in the second half of the year? And how we should be thinking about the ultimate phasing of the commercial ramp over the course of 2027 to hit that initial 1,000 tons per year nameplate? And then I have a quick follow-up after. Ryan Corbett: It's Ryan again. I'll take that. I think we've tried to message to you all that the ramp down in precursor product sales and the ramp-up of magnet sales will definitionally be lumpy and nonlinear. A good example, obviously, is this quarter. We began operating the commercial magnet production facilities for our trial shipments and for our run rate testing. And if you look at the P&L there, you saw a pretty significant amount of overhead and the labor and materials costs that are not yet inventoriable, but are very typical of a start-up of this type of operation. And so just given the structure of our arrangement on the pricing for precursor products, that necessitates I don't think -- many of those costs that previously were ascribable to metal production are now allocated into the magnet portions of the facility. And so I think the interesting thing is, behind the scenes, we had our best metal production quarter ever. So I think that what we've laid out is the beginning of commercial shipments of magnets in Q4. There'll be a modest ramp of volume over time. But again, as I mentioned earlier, we need to be sequencing exactly those deliveries at different production cadences, aligning with the demand at various production plants of our customer. We will learn more about that and have more to share with you guys as we get closer to the end of the year as far as the cadence of 2027. Matt Summerville: And then just quickly as a follow-up. As I think about NdPr demand for just the U.S. defense complex, can you help frame what that looks like today and what it could look like say, over the next few years, if the administration sort of gets its way with its desired rearmament and incremental militarization is a function of kind of where they want to take the DOW budget, how significant that could be to NdPr demand, if there's a way to frame that? Ryan Corbett: Well, I'm sorry, that's classified. We could tell you but we have to kill you. James Litinsky: No, I mean, with defense demand currently, if you're looking at things like missiles is a small amount of demand. The key question, like if we look at drones, for example, I mean, there are estimates -- it's hard to know because a lot of China and Ukraine. There are estimates that maybe drone production is somewhere around 12 million a year. If you do the math, we estimate that maybe it's somewhere between 500 and 1,000 tons of magnet demand. It's not a huge amount relative to the industry, but it is essentially 100% in China, and that is certainly a dual-use technology that -- in fact, we saw some recent stuff around drones this past week with the Chinese further banning export. But I think the takeaway is that if you look at the demand today, it's relatively immaterial. But if you look at it 3 to 5 years out, it's going to be quite large given the fact that realistically, MP is the only company that can satisfy that demand because that's going to be an area where there's going to be very strict watching of what is sent out of China to -- obviously to support the American supply -- defense supply chain. And so that, again, is some of the thinking around Swarm, which is we want to be early and ahead of it and help the industry standardize and make sure that they know that we're going to be there for them. And so I think it will be a very attractive piece of business for us, but it's -- again, it's immaterial today. Operator: Our last question comes from Ben Kallo with Baird. Ben Kallo: I know we're short on time. So I'm just going to ask a big picture question. Throughout history, I think that in times of like extreme scarcity, there's always been innovation. I just want to understand what you guys are doing to make sure that you're ahead on that innovation side because it seems like the problem, like throughout the call, you've been stressing how big the problem is. It seems like the innovation will come in and help solve the problem. So what are you guys doing in terms of R&D or anything else? James Litinsky: Sure. I mean there's innovation, there's sort of different levels of that. There's innovation as far as getting your cost structure down, thrifting hard or expensive materials. And that is obviously something as we have been doing from the beginning with Independence and soon with 10X, where we've got an enormous team, and we are maniacal at pushing that forward. And I would say that I'm very proud of the team that we've assembled and the progress that we've made. We've talked about that quite a bit. So I think there's quite a bit of innovation happening there. And then I think if you're talking about sort of innovation as far as substitution, I mean, there's no question that people are always going to try to substitute expensive or hard-to-find things. I mean we witnessed this, you go back 5 or 6 years ago when the EV was on the rise, there was talk about people who were saying, "We're going to have no heavy rare earth-free magnets." And of course, that sort of flamed out. It didn't really happen. There were some heavy thrifting, but it didn't happen. In fact, demand went quite a bit higher. Interestingly, with respect to robotics, you do not hear that at all. And I think one of the reasons is because when it comes to robotics, size, weight, torque density, these things really matter more so. In a big car, you can have a bigger magnet, a less efficient magnet. There's ways that you can compensate, you can make those cost trade-offs. But when it comes to some of these physical AI use cases, I think it's going to be that much harder to innovate, and that's probably one of the reasons why we don't hear a lot of that talk. But again, when things get scarce and hard, people are always going to try and there needs to be some. I mean, there's no question because the supply-demand imbalance is so large. Michael Rosenthal: And I think we're also seeing -- working with our customers to innovate our products and to customize or to accommodate our products and their needs to what is available and what we can make available. But I think the fact that we will have a domestic supply chain for the first time in a long time gives unique opportunities for that kind of innovation. James Litinsky: And on that point, just one last point that is something that we don't talk much about. But given the team that we've built and our thinking about magnetic formulas and how we do things, these things are never static, right? There are different things that come in -- everything is cyclical. And so the way you make a magnet today may be very different than how you make it 3 years from now because there may be different things that are scarce. And so we have done a lot of work about building the -- around building the capability to make sure that we are being thoughtful about how we're making magnets and also how we're making the capability to make magnets so that we can evolve over time as the market evolves. And I think that's going to be a key thing. If you think the world is just going to be static and it's like I got to get X of this and Y of that, by the time that comes to fruition, things may totally have changed or they may have not. But you've got to be in a position to adapt quickly. And I think that our magnetics team has been at that for years. And I think we have pretty extraordinary capability on that front. Operator: That concludes the question-and-answer portion of today's call. I will now hand the call back to Mr. Litinsky for closing remarks. James Litinsky: Okay. Thank you. This was a really solid quarter of execution. A lot is going on, both at Mountain Pass and in Texas. And a little bit of breaking news. During the call, I got a photo. We are now officially vertical on our site in -- for 1OX. So we are moving very quickly on construction there, and we will get back to work and see you next quarter. Before you buy stock in MP Materials, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and MP Materials wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. 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As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends MP Materials. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. MP Materials (MP) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

MP Materials MP reported second-quarter 2026 results on Aug. 6, with revenues surging 89% year over year to $108.5 million and beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate. NdPr production and sales also continued to show strong momentum. MP reported an adjusted loss of one cent per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of earnings of two cents, but showed significant improvement from the loss of 13 cents in the year-ago quarter. MP shares have gained 15% since the earnings release. However, despite this climb, the stock’s performance over the past year has remained lackluster with a decline of 26.8%. It has trailed the Zacks Mining - Miscellaneous industry’s growth of 42.4%, the Zacks Basic Materials sector’s 29% gain and the S&P 500’s rise of 22.5%. The stock has also lagged other players in the rare earths space like Lynas Rare Earths Limited LYSDY and Energy Fuels UUUU, which advanced 55.4% and 29.8%, respectively, in the same timeframe. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Before addressing the critical question of how investors should position themselves regarding the stock, let us first review the company’s second-quarter results. MP Materials produced 840 metric tons of NdPr, up 41% year over year, while NdPr sales volumes surged 127% to 1,006 metric tons. However, MP reported no rare earth concentrate sales reflecting its decision to halt these sales to China in July 2025. The Materials segment generated revenues of $95.6 million, up 155% year over year, driven by stronger NdPr sales volumes and pricing, partially offset by the absence of concentrate sales. The Magnetics segment generated revenues of $16.5 million in the second quarter, down 17% year over year. While the segment benefited from an increase in the production of magnetic precursor products at the Independence Facility, revenues were down due to the start-up of magnet production and related pricing mechanisms. Total revenues rose 89% year over year to $108.5 million. MP also recorded $17.58 million in income tied to a price protection agreement (PPA) with the Department of War (DoW). Cost of sales climbed 43% in the second quarter due to higher sales volumes of NdPr oxide and metals. Selling, general and administrative expenses rose 28%, due to higher personnel costs to support its downstream expansion. Start-up costs surged to around $14 million from $0.76 million in the year-ago quarter due to the ramp-up of start-up activities for magnet production and chlor-alkali facilities, and costs associated with initial production of magnets at Independence. Despite higher costs, adjusted EBITDA improved sharply to $28.5 million from a loss of $12.5 million in the year-ago quarter, supported by higher revenues and PPA income. The company’s adjusted loss narrowed to one cent per share from 13 cents. Higher adjusted EBITDA and interest income benefited earnings, partly offset by amortization related to the PPA upfront asset and higher interest expense mainly due to the July 2025 DoW loan to support the buildout of samarium oxide production. Costs are likely to remain elevated as producing separated rare earth products and magnetic materials involves significantly higher costs than concentrate production, due to additional processing requirements, chemical inputs, labor and maintenance. Costs associated with magnetic precursor products and start-up costs are also likely to increase further in the coming quarters. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MP Materials’ 2026 revenues indicates a 102% increase year over year. The consensus estimate for 2026 earnings is currently pegged at 18 cents per share, suggesting a solid improvement from the loss of 24 cents reported in 2025. The consensus estimate for MP’s 2027 revenues suggests year-over-year growth of 72% with earnings expected to surge 445%. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings for both 2026 and 2027 has moved down over the past 60 days. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research MP Materials stock is trading at a forward 12-month price/sales multiple of 14.91X, a significant premium to the industry’s 1.42X. MP’s Value Score of F suggests that the stock is not so cheap and a stretched valuation at this moment. Energy Fuels trades at an even steeper multiple of 19.26X, while Lynas Rare Earths appears comparatively cheaper at 10.49X. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research MP Materials continues to benefit from strong demand for domestic rare earth materials and magnets. NdPr sales exceeded 1,000 metric tons for the second consecutive quarter, and the company expects production to exceed 1,000 metric tons in the third quarter. The company remains on track to begin producing terbium and dysprosium later this year and expects first samarium production in 2028. MP recently entered into a multiyear agreement to supply gadolinium oxide to a leading U.S. aerospace and defense manufacturer. The deal is expected to be worth a sizable nine-figure amount. During the second quarter, MP Materials delivered magnets to General Motors for in-vehicle qualification testing and expects to begin commercial shipments in the fourth quarter, followed by a steady production ramp. The company delivered magnets to General Motors for vehicle qualification testing in the second quarter and expects commercial shipments to begin in the fourth quarter, followed by a production ramp. MP Materials has also worked with U.S. and allied drone manufacturers to launch Project Swarm, an industrial coordination initiative designed to aggregate and standardize future magnet demand. It has already signed subscription agreements with a number of participants. The company’s partnership with Apple on magnet recycling, magnet production and joint development also continues to advance. Meanwhile, construction of the 10X facility remains on track. The second U.S. rare earth magnet facility is expected to begin commissioning in 2028 and produce approximately 7,000 metric tons of magnets annually. Combined with the 3,000-metric-ton capacity of the Independence facility, MP’s U.S. magnet capacity is expected to reach 10,000 metric tons annually. MP Materials offers an attractive long-term growth story, supported by its strategic U.S. position, rising NdPr demand, expanding magnet production and partnerships with major industrial and technology companies. However, the stock’s premium valuation, weak recent performance, rising operating and start-up costs, and downward estimate revisions temper the near-term outlook. Existing shareholders may consider holding the stock, while new investors may want to wait for a more attractive entry point. MP Materials currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report MP Materials Corp. (MP) : Free Stock Analysis Report Energy Fuels Inc (UUUU) : Free Stock Analysis Report Lynas Rare Earths Limited - Sponsored ADR (LYSDY) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Interested in MP Materials Corp.? Here are five stocks we like better. Q2 performance improved sharply: Revenue and PPA income more than doubled year over year to $126.1 million, while adjusted EBITDA rose by $41 million to $28.5 million. NdPr sales volumes increased 127%, supported by stronger production and materials-segment profitability. Rare-earth expansion is advancing: MP Materials completed its first heavy rare-earth separation circuit and expects to begin producing terbium and dysprosium later this year. It also secured a sizable, multiyear gadolinium oxide supply agreement with a U.S. aerospace and defense customer. Magnet manufacturing is nearing commercialization: The Independence facility delivered magnets to General Motors for qualification testing, with initial commercial shipments still expected in Q4. Construction has begun at the larger 10X facility, and the company maintained 2026 capital-expenditure guidance of $500 million to $600 million. Why Rare Earth Processing Could Be the Real 2027 Opportunity MP Materials (NYSE:MP) reported second-quarter 2026 revenue and PPA income of $126.1 million, more than double the prior-year period, as sales volumes of neodymium-praseodymium, or NdPr, increased 127% year over year. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA was $28.5 million, improving by $41 million from a year earlier, while adjusted diluted earnings per share improved $0.12 to a loss of $0.01 per share. Chief Executive Officer James Litinsky said the company continued to expand both its rare-earth materials and magnetics businesses during the quarter, including higher NdPr output, progress on heavy rare-earth separation, customer qualification work at its Independence magnet facility, and construction of its planned 10X magnet manufacturing facility. → Sandisk Just Delivered a Blowout Quarter—Here's Why the Stock Is Falling Refiner Stocks Are Near Record Highs—Can Iran-Driven Margins Keep Them There? MP Materials produced 840 metric tons of NdPr during the quarter, a 41% increase from a year earlier. The total was achieved despite an extended planned plant shutdown in April, according to Litinsky. NdPr sales exceeded 1,000 metric tons for the second consecutive quarter. The Materials segment generated $113.2 million in revenue plus PPA income and $32.5 million in adjusted EBITDA, representing a $45 million year-over-year improvement. → 4 Oil and Gas ETF Plays as Prices Stay Sky-High Oil Prices Are Surging and These 4 Stocks Are Cashing In Chief Operating Officer Michael Rosenthal said the company expects third-quarter NdPr production to exceed 1,000 metric tons as plant reliability, throughput and operational consistency improve. The company is working through reliability issues affecting a limited number of circuits and expects the benefits of higher throughput, process efficiency, lower maintenance intensity and the restart of its chlor-alkali facility to build progressively through 2027. For the third quarter, Chief Financial Officer Ryan Corbett said MP Materials expects NdPr oxide realized prices in the high-$90s per kilogram, with PPA income of roughly $10 per kilogram. Materials sales volume is expected to be “flattish” sequentially, depending on shipment timing, sales mix and metallization lead times. As of June 30, the company had approximately 650 metric tons of NdPr oxide and metal on hand, in transit, at toll processors or awaiting shipment. → No Hangover: Revisiting Microsoft One Week After Earnings MP Materials said it achieved mechanical completion of its first heavy rare-earth separation circuit in May and is preparing to introduce feed into the facility. The company remains on track to begin producing terbium and dysprosium later this year, though Rosenthal said the exact pace of the ramp will depend on commissioning activities and the company’s focus on product quality. The company also announced a long-term agreement to supply gadolinium oxide to a U.S. aerospace and defense manufacturer. Litinsky described the agreement as a sizable nine-figure deal over multiple years. Corbett said the contract includes locked-in economics and could offer opportunities for greater volumes over time. MP Materials is advancing a samarium program with first production planned for 2028. Following an extended pilot campaign, the company is also moving forward with engineering and procurement for a gadolinium separation project on a similar timeline. Rosenthal said the company plans to break ground during August on an expanded Mountain Pass area intended to house magnet recycling and additional heavy rare-earth separation and finishing capacity. Management said the company is evaluating opportunities across other rare earths contained in its ore body, including yttrium. The company also said its heavy rare-earth separation circuit was designed to process third-party feedstocks. At MP Materials’ Independence facility in Texas, the company delivered magnets to General Motors for in-vehicle qualification testing during the quarter. The company continues to expect initial commercial magnet shipments to begin in the fourth quarter, followed by a gradual production ramp. Rosenthal said the facility is demonstrating the capability and consistency needed to support customer volume ramp requirements, though qualification also involves capacity staging, batch traceability, quality systems integration and vehicle-level testing. Corbett said early magnet production will create variable quarterly financial results as precursor product sales decline and commercial magnet volumes begin to scale. The Magnetics segment’s revenue declined slightly from the first quarter, reflecting a greater proportion of costs tied to magnet-production startup rather than precursor production. However, precursor production generated adjusted EBITDA margins above 40% during the quarter. The company has approximately $46 million of prepaid revenue from magnetic precursor products remaining to be recognized over the next three to four quarters, declining modestly each quarter. Once that prepayment is fully recognized, MP Materials expects to dedicate metal production capacity to its own finished magnet manufacturing rather than external precursor sales. MP Materials spent $230.3 million on capital expenditures during the second quarter, with more than 60% directed toward the Magnetics segment. The company acquired the 10X site for approximately $80 million during the quarter, bringing year-to-date capital spending to $308 million as of June 30. It maintained full-year capital expenditure guidance of $500 million to $600 million. Construction at 10X is advancing, with foundation work underway and long-lead equipment ordered. Litinsky said during closing remarks that the company had received confirmation it was “officially vertical” at the site. MP Materials ended the quarter with $1.45 billion in cash and short-term investments. Corbett said the balance sheet, together with anticipated improvement in operating cash flow from increasing oxide and magnet sales, fully funds the company’s long-term capital plan. Litinsky also discussed Project Swarm, an initiative intended to aggregate and standardize future magnet demand among U.S. and allied drone manufacturers. The company said it has signed subscription agreements with several participants and views the program as a way to provide emerging autonomous-system companies access to future manufacturing capacity while retaining flexibility in product development. 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. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "MP Materials Q2 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for August 2026.

Our analysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here. NdPr production grew 41% year-over-year to 840 metric tons, achieving targets despite a planned semi-annual maintenance shutdown in April. Customer demand continues to outpace production, evidenced by NdPr sales exceeding 1,000 metric tons for the second consecutive quarter, a 127% year-over-year increase. The company is transitioning from a materials-only focus to a vertically integrated magnetics platform, with commercial magnet shipments to GM expected to commence in Q4 2026. Management is deliberately expanding the heavy rare earth portfolio, recently securing a nine-figure gadolinium oxide supply agreement with a U.S. aerospace and defense manufacturer. Operational resiliency is being prioritized through the recommissioning of the on-site chlor-alkali facility and a new reagent trial designed to improve water quality and supply chain independence. Strategic positioning is shifting toward 'Physical AI,' where management believes the next phase of technology will require massive domestic supplies of magnets for robotics and autonomous systems. Project Swarm was launched to aggregate and standardize magnet demand for U.S. drone manufacturers, aiming to reduce supply chain uncertainty for emerging autonomous technologies. NdPr production is expected to exceed 1,000 metric tons in Q3 2026 as the company progresses toward its year-end production run rate targets. Heavy rare earth separation for terbium and dysprosium remains on track for production later this year, with samarium and gadolinium production planned for 2028. Full-year 2026 capital expenditure is projected between $500 million and $600 million, with significant investment directed toward the 10X magnetics facility. Magnetics segment revenue will face near-term lumpiness as prepaid precursor product sales roll off and commercial magnet production for GM and Apple begins to scale. Management anticipates a structural shift where resilient domestic production of critical materials becomes a permanent strategic requirement for Western governments. The planned April plant shutdown and pilot testing activities impacted year-over-year production comparisons and increased short-term maintenance costs. A new reagent implementation will increase direct costs modestly but is expected to improve long-term water reclamation and supply chain resiliency. Management highlighted 'controlled scarcity' in the global rare earth market, noting that supply disruptions in aerospace are already impacting large-cap industrial valuations. The acquisition of the 10X site for approximately $80 million in Q2 represents a significant step in expanding the domestic magnet manufacturing footprint. Management confirmed the contract features locked-in economics rather than pure spot price exposure, providing attractive returns on a standalone basis. The deal utilizes the existing SEG (Samarium, Europium, Gadolinium) product stream, allowing for high incremental returns as volumes grow with minimal additional capital. One stock. Nvidia-level potential. 30M+ investors trust Moby to find it first. Get the pick. Tap here. Management acknowledged a domestic shortage of specialized engineers and metallurgists but stated their 'talent begets talent' philosophy has helped them remain an employer of choice. The company leverages its status as the only vertically integrated domestic player to attract talent interested in long-term national security missions. Management expressed high confidence in filling capacity, noting that a single vertical like humanoid robotics could theoretically consume 100% of global rare earth magnet production. The company is acting as a 'kingmaker' in certain verticals, prioritizing national security and strategic partners over rapid, low-margin contracting. MP is actively reducing heavy rare earth intensity through GBD and micro-structure innovations to meet customer specs with lower-cost inputs. Management believes the most attractive high-margin business in the future, particularly in robotics, will require very limited or no heavy rare earths. Management expects minimal impact from Chinese reagent export bans due to proactive sourcing from non-Chinese suppliers. The U.S. government's ban on magnet scrap exports reinforces the strategic value of MP's internal recycling initiatives and partnership with Apple.

MP Materials Corp. has reported past second-quarter 2026 results, with sales rising to US$108.49 million while its net loss narrowed to US$20.3 million, alongside improved losses per share versus a year earlier. Alongside the earnings, MP Materials’ Project Swarm rare-earth magnet initiative, tied to its 10X facility and U.S. defense partnerships, highlights an effort to deepen its role in domestic drone and motor supply chains. We’ll now examine how stronger-than-expected EBITDA and the Project Swarm magnet initiative may reshape MP Materials’ existing investment narrative. We've uncovered the 9 dividend fortresses yielding 5%+ that don't just survive market storms, but thrive in them. To own MP Materials, you have to believe that U.S.-backed rare earth mining and magnet production can turn today’s losses into a durable, integrated business. The latest quarter’s stronger-than-expected US$28.5 million EBITDA and improving loss per share support that narrative but do not remove the biggest near term risk: executing large, capital intensive expansions like the 10X plant and related magnet programs on time and on budget. Project Swarm, which lets drone and motor makers reserve capacity at the upcoming 10X magnet facility, is the announcement that most directly connects with these results. It reinforces the key catalyst of securing long term magnet demand linked to U.S. defense and allied supply chains, while also highlighting how much of MP’s future depends on scaling new downstream operations without major setbacks or cost inflation. Yet even with government support and improving EBITDA, investors should be aware that MP’s heavy dependence on a few anchor customers means... Read the full narrative on MP Materials (it's free!) MP Materials’ narrative projects $1.0 billion revenue and $267.2 million earnings by 2029. Uncover how MP Materials' forecasts yield a $80.44 fair value, a 69% upside to its current price. Some of the most optimistic analysts were already penciling in about US$1.5 billion in 2029 revenue and US$489.8 million in earnings, a far more upbeat view than consensus. In light of MP’s recent EBITDA beat and the execution risks around Project Swarm that you have just seen, those bullish assumptions may either gain support or look stretched, which is why it helps to compare several viewpoints before deciding what you believe. Explore 10 other fair value estimates on MP Materials - why the stock might be worth just $50.85! Disagree with existing narratives? Extraordinary investment returns rarely come from following the herd, so go with your instincts. A great starting point for your MP Materials research is our analysis highlighting 3 key rewards and 1 important warning sign that could impact your investment decision. Our free MP Materials research report provides a comprehensive fundamental analysis summarized in a single visual - the Snowflake - making it easy to evaluate MP Materials' overall financial health at a glance. Our top stock finds are flying under the radar-for now. Get in early: Invest in the nuclear renaissance through our list of 89 elite nuclear energy infrastructure plays powering the global AI revolution. Find 50 companies with promising cash flow potential yet trading below their fair value. Uncover the next big thing with 20 elite penny stocks that balance risk and reward. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Companies discussed in this article include MP. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email [email protected]

MP Materials Corp. MP used its second-quarter 2026 earnings call to emphasize higher NdPr output, commercial magnet shipments beginning in Q4 and expansion into heavy rare earth products. Revenues of $108.50 million beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $99.20 million by 9.40%. Adjusted loss per share was $0.01 compared with the consensus estimate of $0.02, producing a -150.00% surprise. MP Materials Corp. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | MP Materials Corp. Quote COO Michael Rosenthal said Q3 NdPr production should exceed 1,000 metric tons as reliability and throughput improve. Q2 production rose 41% year over year to 840 tons. Chairman and CEO James Litinsky said customer demand continues to outpace production growth. Q2 NdPr sales reached 1,006 tons, up 127% year over year. CFO Ryan Corbett said Q3 Materials sales volumes should be roughly flat sequentially because of shipment timing and metallization lead times. He expects NdPr oxide pricing in the high $90s per kilogram and PPA income of roughly $10 per kilogram, with overall PPA income slightly lower sequentially. Chairman and CEO James Litinsky said MP delivered magnets to GM for in-vehicle qualification testing and still expects commercial shipments to begin in Q4. The ramp should start with modest volumes. CFO Ryan Corbett said about $46 million of prepaid magnetic precursor revenues remain to be recognized over the next three to four quarters. MP then plans to dedicate metal production capacity to finished magnets. A Morgan Stanley analyst asked about GM qualification. CFO Ryan Corbett said the process covers capacity staging, batch traceability, quality-system integration and vehicle-level testing, and reiterated expectations for regular Q4 production deliveries. Chairman and CEO James Litinsky highlighted a long-term gadolinium oxide agreement with a U.S. aerospace and defense customer that is expected to represent a sizable nine-figure deal over multiple years. Responding to a BofA Securities analyst, CFO Ryan Corbett said the contract has locked-in economics and attractive stand-alone returns. Additional volumes could generate significant incremental returns because most capital is being deployed upfront. COO Michael Rosenthal said MP remains on track to produce terbium and dysprosium later this year and plans first samarium production in 2028. CFO Ryan Corbett also identified yttrium as another product opportunity during the Goldman Sachs Q&A. Chairman and CEO James Litinsky said demand for secure magnet manufacturing remains strong across automotive, industrial, aerospace, defense and physical AI applications. Project Swarm is intended to aggregate drone demand and standardize magnet specifications. A TD Cowen analyst asked why new magnetics contracts had not accelerated. Chairman and CEO James Litinsky responded that Independence is fully sold out between GM and Apple, while 10X is 100% contracted with the Department of War. CFO Ryan Corbett said customer engagement is extremely high, but management is not rushing additional deals. The Department of War agreement gives MP room to select industrial partners and pursue terms designed to maximize long-term value. CFO Ryan Corbett said the Q2 maintenance outage and staffing ahead of heavy rare earth production weighed on costs. He expects fixed-cost absorption, process efficiencies, lower maintenance intensity and chlor-alkali benefits to build progressively through 2027. COO Michael Rosenthal said MP plans to change a flotation reagent later this year. The higher-cost reagent is expected to improve reclaimed-water quality and supply-chain resilience. CFO Ryan Corbett said MP expects minimal immediate impact from current export restrictions on its reagent supply chain. Full-year capital spending remains targeted at $500 million to $600 million, while cash and short-term investments totaled $1.45 billion. Chairman and CEO James Litinsky framed MP’s strategy around building operating capabilities across materials and magnetics rather than adding assets alone. He emphasized patient investment and contracted cash flows. COO Michael Rosenthal said 10X development remains on track while MP advances recycling, chlor-alkali recommissioning and additional rare earth separation capabilities. MP currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Its Value Score is F, Growth Score is D, Momentum Score is D and VGM Score is F, below the A and B grades Zacks identifies as more favorable. The combination indicates a neutral Zacks Rank with weak Style Scores rather than a top-ranked setup. The Zacks Rank can change as analysts revise earnings estimates following the just-reported results. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report MP Materials Corp. (MP) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

NdPr production of 840 metric tons, a 41% increase year over year NdPr sales of 1,006 metric tons1, a 127% increase year over year Generated $126.1 million of consolidated revenue and PPA Income, consisting of $108.5 million of revenue and $17.6 million of PPA Income Materials Segment1 generated $95.6 million in revenue, $17.6 million of PPA Income, and $32.5 million in Adjusted EBITDA Magnetics Segment generated $16.5 million in revenue and $7.5 million in Adjusted EBITDA Signed significant long-term offtake agreement with new American aerospace and defense customer for separated gadolinium, expanding HREE business at attractive economics Launched Project Swarm to aggregate demand and standardize specs for the drone industry; executed subscription agreements with multiple leading U.S. and allied customers LAS VEGAS, August 06, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MP Materials Corp. (NYSE: MP) ("MP Materials" or the "Company"), today announced financial and operational results for the three months ended June 30, 2026. "MP Materials built on its strong start to the year, ramping NdPr production and sales volumes while generating solid Adjusted EBITDA," said James Litinsky, Founder, Chairman and CEO of MP Materials. "We also signed a significant long-term agreement to supply gadolinium to a new U.S. aerospace and defense customer at attractive economics, expanding both our customer base and our heavy rare earth product portfolio." Litinsky continued, "Across our business, we continued to execute on our long-term strategy. Magnet qualification at Independence advanced through additional deliveries for customer qualification and regulatory testing, while construction of our 10X facility accelerated. As we expand our commercial relationships, scale domestic manufacturing capacity, and deepen our vertical integration, we are strengthening MP's competitive position and building a differentiated industrial platform that we believe will drive long-term shareholder value." Second Quarter 2026 Consolidated Financial Highlights Second Quarter 2026 Consolidated Review Consolidated revenue increased 89% year over year to $108.5 million, driven by higher sales of NdPr oxide and metal, as well as stronger market pricing. The increase was partially offset by the cessation of concentrate sales beginning in July 2025 and slightly lower revenue from magnet precursor products due to the start-up of magnetics production at Independence. Adjusted EBITDA increased by $41.0 million year over year to $28.5 million, driven mainly by the changes in revenues discussed above, as well as the price protection agreement income ("PPA Income") generated in the Materials Segment. These improvements were partially offset by higher Cost of Sales in the Materials Segment due to the significant growth in NdPr sales volumes as well as higher SG&A mainly driven by higher headcount to support our downstream expansion. Adjusted Net Loss improved by $19.3 million year over year to $(2.1) million, driven primarily by the higher Adjusted EBITDA discussed above, along with higher interest income due to increased cash and short-term investment balances. This improvement was partially offset by the amortization related to the price protection agreement upfront asset, with no comparable cost in the prior year period, as well as higher interest expense mainly due to the July 2025 Department of War loan to support the buildout of samarium oxide production. Net loss improved by $10.6 million year over year to $(20.3) million, primarily due to the factors driving the improvement in Adjusted Net Loss discussed above, partially offset by higher Start-up costs from the ramp-up of start-up activities for initial magnet production ahead of commercial production, as well as higher stock based compensation expense. Diluted loss per common share and Adjusted Diluted EPS improved by $0.08 and $0.12 year over year, respectively, to $(0.11) and $(0.01), respectively, in line with the change in Net loss and Adjusted Net Loss discussed above. Conference Call Details MP Materials will host a conference call to discuss these results at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time, Thursday, August 6, 2026. To join the conference call on a listen-only basis, participants should dial 1-888-788-0099 and international participants should dial 1-646-876-9923 and enter the conference ID number: 972 8270 1571 as well as the passcode: 293840. The live audio webcast along with the press release and accompanying slide presentation, will be accessible at investors.mpmaterials.com. A recording of the webcast will also be available following the conference call. About MP Materials MP Materials (NYSE: MP) is America’s only fully integrated rare earth producer with capabilities spanning the entire supply chain—from mining and processing to advanced metallization and magnet manufacturing. We extract and refine materials from one of the world’s richest rare earth deposits in California and manufacture the world’s strongest and most efficient permanent magnets. Our products enable innovation across critical sectors of the modern economy, including transportation, energy, robotics, defense, and aerospace. More information is available at https://mpmaterials.com/. Join the MP Materials community on X, YouTube, and LinkedIn. We routinely post important information on our website, including corporate and investor presentations and financial information. We intend to use our website as a means of disclosing material, non-public information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Such disclosures will be included in the Investors section of our website. Accordingly, investors should monitor such portion of our website, in addition to following our press releases, Securities and Exchange Commission filings and public conference calls and webcasts. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. MP Materials Corp. (the "Company," "we," "us" and "our") intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of the words such as "estimate," "plan," "shall," "may," "project," "forecast," "intend," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "seek," "will," "target," or similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the price and market for rare earth materials; the continued demand for rare earth materials and the market for rare earth materials generally; future demand for magnets; estimates and forecasts of the Company’s results of operations and other financial and performance metrics, including expected NdPr oxide production and shipments; the Company’s mining and magnet projects, including the Company’s ability to expand its heavy rare earth separation capabilities, and to develop the 10X Facility and to achieve run rate production of separated rare earth materials and production of commercial metal and magnets; the transactions ("Transactions") with the United States Department of War ( the "DoW") formerly known as the Department of Defense, the timing and consummation of future phases of the Transactions, the Company’s and the DoW’s future obligations related to the Transactions; the availability of government appropriations, funding and support for the Transactions; the availability of additional or replacement funding for our development projects and operations; statements regarding expectations and benefits of a long-term agreement with Apple and the Company’s ability to supply U.S.-produced rare earth magnets; the ability to achieve technological advancements and supply chain objectives and the timing thereof; and statements related to the incentives in the State of Texas related to the 10X Facility. Such statements are all subject to risks, uncertainties and changes in circumstances that could significantly affect the Company’s future financial results and business. Accordingly, the Company cautions that the forward-looking statements contained herein are qualified by important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected by such statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the heightened significance of the development of the Company’s midstream and downstream operations, including ramping its separation capabilities, and its ability to vertically integrate its value chain; risks related to the timing and achievement of expected business milestones, including with respect to the construction of the 10X Facility; the availability of appropriations from the legislative branch of the federal government and the ability of the DoW to obtain funding and support for the Transactions; the determination by the legislative, judicial or executive branches of the federal government that any aspect of the Transactions was unauthorized, void or voidable; our ability to obtain additional or replacement financing, as needed; our ability to effectively assess, determine and monitor the financial, tax and accounting treatment of the Transactions, together with our and the DoW’s obligations thereunder; challenges associated with identifying alternate sales channels and customers for the highly-specialized products contemplated by the Transactions should the partnership be altered or terminated; our ability to effectively use the proceeds and utilize the other anticipated benefits of the Transactions as contemplated thereby; risks related to the Company’s long-term agreement with Apple and the Company’s ability to meet the obligations thereunder, including risks related to our ability to construct, develop and scale our facilities, technology and production; fluctuations in the pricing and volume of the magnet products to be produced under the agreement with Apple, risks related to our ability to satisfy the conditions necessary to receive the Texas incentives related to the 10X Facility, our ability to effectively comply with the broader legal and regulatory requirements and heightened scrutiny associated with government partnerships and contracts; limitations on the Company’s ability to transact with non-U.S. customers; changes in trade and other policies and priorities in U.S. and foreign governments, including with respect to tariffs; fluctuations, variability and uncertainty in demand and pricing in the market for rare earth products, including magnets; volatility in the price of our common stock; and those risk factors discussed in the Company’s filings with the SEC, including Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and other documents filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. If any of these risks materialize or the assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events discussed in this press release may not occur. Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures This press release references certain non-GAAP financial measures, including Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income (Loss), and Adjusted Diluted EPS, which have not been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("GAAP"). MP Materials defines Adjusted EBITDA as GAAP net income or loss before interest expense, net; income tax expense or benefit; and depreciation, depletion and amortization; further adjusted to eliminate the impact of stock-based compensation expense; initial start-up costs; transaction-related and other costs; accretion of asset retirement and environmental obligations; gain or loss on disposals of long-lived assets; other income or loss; and other items that management does not consider representative of our underlying operations. MP Materials defines Adjusted Net Income (Loss) as GAAP net income or loss excluding the impact of stock-based compensation expense; initial start-up costs; transaction-related and other costs; gain or loss on disposals of long-lived assets; change in fair value of derivative instruments; and other items that management does not consider representative of our underlying operations; adjusted to give effect to the income tax impact of such adjustments. MP Materials defines Adjusted Diluted EPS as GAAP diluted earnings or loss per common share, excluding the per-share impact of each adjusting item described in the previous sentence (the numerator) divided by the adjusted diluted weighted-average shares outstanding (the denominator). MP Materials’ management uses Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income (Loss), and Adjusted Diluted EPS to compare MP Materials’ performance to that of prior periods for trend analyses and for budgeting and planning purposes. MP Materials believes Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income (Loss), and Adjusted Diluted EPS provide useful information to management and investors regarding certain financial and business trends relating to MP Materials’ financial condition and results of operations. MP Materials’ management believes that the use of Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income (Loss), and Adjusted Diluted EPS provides an additional tool for investors to use in evaluating projected operating results and trends. MP Materials’ method of determining these non-GAAP measures may be different from other companies’ methods and, therefore, may not be comparable to those used by other companies and MP Materials does not recommend the sole use of these non-GAAP measures to assess its financial performance. Management does not consider non-GAAP measures in isolation or as an alternative or to be superior to financial measures determined in accordance with GAAP. The principal limitation of non-GAAP financial measures is that they exclude significant expenses and income that are required by GAAP to be recorded in MP Materials’ financial statements. In addition, they are subject to inherent limitations as they reflect the exercise of judgments by management about which expense and income are excluded or included in determining these non-GAAP financial measures. In order to compensate for these limitations, management presents reconciliations of such non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures. Segment Information The Company’s reportable segments, which are primarily based on the Company’s internal organizational structure and types of products, are its two operating segments—Materials and Magnetics. The Materials segment operates the Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine and Processing Facility located near Mountain Pass, San Bernardino County, California, which produces refined rare earth products as well as rare earth concentrate and related products. The Magnetics segment includes (i) the rare earth metal, alloy and magnet manufacturing facility in Fort Worth, Texas ("Independence"), where the Company produces and sells magnetic precursor products and, beginning in December 2025, commenced manufacturing neodymium-iron-boron permanent magnets, and (ii) the 10X Facility. Segment Adjusted EBITDA is management’s primary segment measure of profit or loss required by GAAP in assessing segment performance and deciding how to allocate the Company’s resources. Segment Adjusted EBITDA is calculated as segment revenues and price protection agreement income less significant segment expenses, specifically, cost of sales (excluding depreciation, depletion and amortization and stock-based compensation expense) and selling, general and administrative expenses (excluding stock-based compensation expense), as well as certain other operating expenses (referred to as "other segment items"). Significant segment expenses and other segment items also exclude certain costs that are non-recurring, non-cash or are not related to the segments’ underlying business performance. Key Performance Indicators NdPr Production Volume for a given period is measured in MTs, the Company’s principal unit of sale for its NdPr separated products. This measure refers to the volume of finished and packaged NdPr oxide produced at Mountain Pass for a given period. NdPr Production Volume is a key indicator of the separating and finishing capacity and efficiency of the Company’s midstream operations. NdPr Sales Volume for a given period is measured in MTs and on an NdPr oxide-equivalent basis (as further discussed below). NdPr Sales Volume is a key measure of our ability to convert our production of separated NdPr products into revenue. A unit, or MT, is considered sold once the Materials segment recognizes revenue on its sale, whether sold as NdPr oxide or NdPr metal, as determined in accordance with GAAP. For these NdPr metal sales, the MTs sold and included in NdPr Sales Volume are calculated based on the volume of NdPr oxide used to produce such NdPr metal. In the first quarter of 2026, to better reflect current contractual production yields, we began to utilize an assumed material conversion ratio of 1.25, such that a sale of 100 MTs of NdPr metal would be included in this KPI as 125 MTs of NdPr oxide-equivalent. Prior to this update, we utilized an assumed material conversion ratio of 1.20. The prior period amounts have not been recast. Beginning with the fourth quarter of 2025, NdPr Sales Volume for the Materials segment includes intercompany sales made to the Magnetics segment. REO Production Volume for a given period is measured in MTs, the Company’s principal unit of sale for its concentrate product. This measure refers to the REO content contained in the rare earth concentrate we produce and includes volumes fed into downstream circuits for producing separated rare earth products, a portion of which is also included in our KPI, NdPr Production Volume. REO Production Volume is a key indicator of the mining and processing capacity and efficiency of the Company’s upstream operations. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260806426638/en/ Contacts Investors: [email protected] Media: [email protected]

Materion (MTRN) came out with quarterly earnings of $1.9 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.55 per share. This compares to earnings of $1.37 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of +22.58%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this supplier of engineered materials to technology companies would post earnings of $1.24 per share when it actually produced earnings of $1.27, delivering a surprise of +2.42%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates three times. Materion, which belongs to the Zacks Mining - Miscellaneous industry, posted revenues of $613.91 million for the quarter ended June 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 12.00%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $431.66 million. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates four times over the last four quarters. The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call. Materion shares have added about 82.7% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 13%. While Materion has outperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock? There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately. Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions. Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Materion was favorable. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to outperform the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $1.75 on $559.7 million in revenues for the coming quarter and $6.45 on $2.23 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year. Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Mining - Miscellaneous is currently in the bottom 22% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1. One other stock from the same industry, MP Materials Corp. (MP), is yet to report results for the quarter ended June 2026. The results are expected to be released on August 6. This company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.02 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +115.4%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 816.7% lower over the last 30 days to the current level. MP Materials Corp.'s revenues are expected to be $99.21 million, up 72.9% from the year-ago quarter. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Materion Corporation (MTRN) : Free Stock Analysis Report MP Materials Corp. (MP) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

MP Materials MP is scheduled to announce its second-quarter 2026 results on Aug. 6, after market close. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MP’s second-quarter revenues is $99.2 million, indicating a 72.9% increase from the year-ago quarter. The consensus estimate for earnings has remained unchanged at two cents per share over the past 60 days. The projected earnings figure marks an improvement from the loss of 13 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research MP Materials’ earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 144.3%, on average. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for MP Materials this time around. This is because a stock needs to have the right combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold), which increases the chances of an earnings beat. This is not the case, as you can see below. You can uncover the best stocks before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter. Earnings ESP: MP has an Earnings ESP of -72.73%. Zacks Rank: The company currently carries a Zacks Rank of 3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. MP Materials has maintained strong operational momentum since 2025. In the first quarter of 2026, the company produced a record 917 metric tons (MT) of neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr), up 63% year over year. Rare earth oxide (REO) concentrate production also reached a record 12,983 MT, rising 6% year over year on improved recoveries and operational efficiencies. Production of magnetic precursor products continued to ramp up at the Independence facility.NdPr sales also hit a record 1,006 metric tons in the first quarter, a 117% increase year over year.  This robust production and sales growth led to the Materials segment’s revenues climbing 30% year over year to $72.2 million. We expect this momentum to have continued in the second quarter. Higher NdPr production, improved pricing and stronger sales volumes likely supported the Materials segment’s revenues. The Magnetics segment is also expected to have contributed more meaningfully as production of magnetic precursor products increased. In addition, the company is expected to have recognized income related to its price protection agreement (PPA) with the Department of War (DoW). However, cost pressures remain a key challenge, as MP advances its downstream expansion strategy. Producing separated rare earth products and magnetic materials involves significantly higher costs than concentrate production, due to additional processing requirements, chemical inputs, labor and maintenance. Cost of sales is expected to have been higher in the second quarter, reflecting increased sales of NdPr oxide and metal, along with added costs associated with magnetic precursor products. Ongoing investments in downstream capabilities are likely to have kept SG&A expenses high, maintaining pressure on near-term margins. MP Materials shares have declined 33% in a year against the industry’s 35.2% growth. In comparison, the Zacks Basic Materials sector has gained 25.8%, while the S&P 500 has risen 23.2% in the same period. Meanwhile, peers Energy Fuels UUUU and Lynas Rare Earths Limited LYSDY have gained 25% and 31.5% in a year, respectively. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research MP is trading at a forward 12-month price/sales multiple of 12X, a significant premium to the industry’s 1.42X. Energy Fuels and Lynas are trading at price-to-sales ratios of 15.86X and 8.9X, respectively. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research MP Materials remains the only fully integrated U.S. rare earth producer, with capabilities spanning mining, processing, metallization and magnet manufacturing. The company continues expanding operations at its Independence facility while advancing construction of the 10X magnetics campus. It is also preparing to commission scaled heavy rare earth separation at Mountain Pass. Once completed, the 10X facility is expected to increase MP's integrated U.S. rare-earth magnet manufacturing capacity to roughly 10,000 metric tons annually, strengthening domestic supply of these strategically important materials and enhancing the company's long-term growth prospects. MP Materials remains well-positioned to benefit from the growing demand for domestically produced rare earth materials and magnets, supported by its integrated business model, expanding production capabilities and significant long-term capacity investments. These strengths make the company an attractive long-term holding for existing shareholders. However, the stock's premium valuation, elevated operating and start-up costs, and an unfavorable Earnings ESP ahead of the upcoming release suggest that new investors may be better served waiting for a more attractive entry point or greater post-earnings clarity before initiating a position. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report MP Materials Corp. (MP) : Free Stock Analysis Report Energy Fuels Inc (UUUU) : Free Stock Analysis Report Lynas Rare Earths Limited - Sponsored ADR (LYSDY) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research