MP Materials

MP

Market cap $15.9B

President Donald Trump's administration is likely to take stakes in more companies following China's latest rare earth export limitations, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday.

Agriculture stocks largely rallied sharply to the upside while metal manufacturers like MP Materials (MP) sold off. George Tsilis talks about how tariffs generated big moves in these stocks and explains the retail and institutional investments shaking earth-tethered stocks.

Jim Cramer wanted investors to rotate out of "quantum/nuke/crypto" hype into real-economy names. But judging by the year-to-date leaderboard, that rotation might have landed in another bubble — rare earths.

A sector rally intensified late last week after Trump said the U.S. would hit back against China's new export restrictions on rare-earth minerals.

A firestorm of investor interest has engulfed MP Materials NYSE: MP, and the catalyst is the escalating economic tension between the United States and China. On Oct. 13, the MP Materials' stock price jumped over 21% in a single session, driven by trading volume of nearly 50 million shares, almost five times its daily average.

MP Materials surges as US-China tensions revive rare earth focus, bolstered by a major Pentagon-backed supply-chain deal.

In an interview with the Financial Times published early on Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent strongly criticized Beijing's decision to expand export controls on rare earth minerals. Bessent argued the levies were a sign of “how weak” China's economy was and said: “They want to pull everybody else down with them.

MP Materials (MP -1.45%) operates one of the few rare earth metal mines and processing facilities in the U.S. -- the Mountain Pass Mine in California. This mine is critical as feedstock for neodymium-iron-boron magnets, which are found in consumer electronics, electric vehicles, and drones, among others.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP), an American company specializing in rare-earth materials and based in Las Vegas, Nevada, experienced a stock increase of approximately 8% on Friday after China revealed new export restrictions on rare-earth elements. The updated regulations will necessitate that foreign purchasers secure licenses, heightening concerns over supply shortages.

U.S. mining stocks are rallying again on Tuesday, October 14, following President Donald Trump's reassurance that “it will all be fine” just days after threatening higher tariffs on China.