Key points
- All three stocks trade about 50% below their peak closing prices
- Their revenue sources and exposure to China differ
- China put two of them on an export control list in June
- China's pause on its October 2025 controls is scheduled to end November 10
MP Materials (MP), USA Rare Earth (USAR), and Energy Fuels (UUUU) closed September 22 between 48% and 56% below their peak closing prices. Each offers a different exposure to rare earths, from mining and separation to metals, alloys, and magnets.
MP produces separated rare earth materials under a Pentagon price-support agreement. USA Rare Earth has a metals-and-alloys business, is expanding magnet production, and recently acquired a producing Brazilian mine. Energy Fuels earned nearly all its second-quarter revenue from uranium while expanding its rare earth operations.
China's export restrictions affect those businesses differently. USA Rare Earth and MP reached their peak closes on October 13 and 14, 2025, shortly after Beijing announced broader rare earth export controls on October 9. Both stocks had fallen well below those levels before the October 30 trade agreement between President Trump and President Xi Jinping.
China subsequently suspended the October measures until November 10, 2026, under a Commerce Ministry announcement. China also agreed to issue general export licenses for US end users and their suppliers, according to the White House. The suspension covered the October measures; it did not repeal the separate April 2025 controls on seven medium and heavy rare earths, including dysprosium and terbium.
Chinese shipments of rare earth magnets to the US fell 21% in August from July, to 512 tons, according to customs data reported by Bloomberg. President Trump and President Xi Jinping meet in Washington on September 24, with critical minerals on the agenda.
| Company | Main business today | Q2 revenue | Q2 net loss attributable to shareholders | Sept. 22 close | Below peak close |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MP Materials (MP) | Rare earth mining and separation | $108.5M | $20.3M | $51.04 | 48% |
| USA Rare Earth (USAR) | Metals and alloys; expanding magnet production; newly acquired mine | $5.8M | $10.3M | $16.99 | 56% |
| Energy Fuels (UUUU) | Uranium; expanding rare earth processing, metals, and alloys | $25.1M | $33.4M | $12.14 | 56% |
Financial results cover the second quarter of 2026. Peak closing prices were $98.65 for MP on October 14, 2025; $38.68 for USAR on October 13, 2025; and $27.72 for Energy Fuels on January 28, 2026. USAR's second-quarter results exclude its September acquisition of Serra Verde.
MP Materials: the producer with a price floor
MP runs the Mountain Pass mine in California and calls itself the largest producer of rare earth materials in the Western Hemisphere. The company turns the ore into NdPr oxide, the neodymium-praseodymium material that goes into permanent magnets. MP produced 840 metric tons of NdPr in the second quarter, up 41%, and revenue rose 89% to $108.5 million, according to its quarterly filing. MP also booked $17.6 million of income from its price-floor agreement with the Pentagon.
That agreement is the core of the MP story. In July 2025 the Defense Department bought $400 million of convertible preferred stock and set a floor of $110 per kilogram for MP's NdPr products, running through 2035. The department also agreed to ensure that all magnets from a planned 10X plant are purchased for 10 years. MP picked Northlake, Texas, for that plant in February, with commissioning targeted for 2028. Its first magnet plant, in Fort Worth, began making magnets in December 2025, and they are still in customer qualification testing.
MP stopped selling to customers in China in July 2025, so China's June listing bars MP from buying Chinese dual-use items rather than closing off a market MP still serves. Apple has a $500 million deal for recycled-material magnets, with shipments expected to begin in 2027.
USA Rare Earth: metals and alloys, magnets, and now a mine
USA Rare Earth reported $5.8 million of second-quarter revenue, according to its quarterly filing. Its operations include Less Common Metals, a rare earth metal and alloy maker in the United Kingdom acquired in November 2025. Its first magnet line in Stillwater, Oklahoma, started on March 26, and the company is aiming for 600 metric tons a year of run-rate magnet capacity in the fourth quarter.
USA Rare Earth reported a $46.3 million operating loss, but investment income and gains from changes in the value of financial instruments reduced its bottom-line loss. The loss attributable to shareholders was $10.3 million. The company held $1.53 billion of cash at the end of June.
On September 3, USA Rare Earth closed the purchase of Serra Verde, owner of the Pela Ema rare earth operation in Goias, Brazil, for $300 million in cash and 126,849,307 new shares, according to its 8-K filing. Serra Verde began production in January 2024 and is finishing an optimization and commissioning program. Its first stage is expected to reach a run-rate of about 4,000 tons a year of rare earth oxides by the end of 2026, and a second stage targets 6,400 tons. A special purpose company capitalized by the US government and private investors, which the filings do not name, has agreed to buy all of Serra Verde's first-phase output for 15 years at guaranteed minimum prices, including for dysprosium and terbium. Its funding totals up to $1.55 billion, according to a company release filed August 24: a $750 million War Department investment, a US government contract to buy at least $300 million of rare earth products over five years, and a commitment letter from an unnamed bank for up to $500 million of credit. As of August 24, that credit facility had not been documented or funded. We covered the closing and the new shares when it happened.
USA Rare Earth's quarterly filing says China's June designation has had, and will continue to have, an adverse impact on sourcing key raw materials from China.
Energy Fuels: a uranium company building a rare earth business
Nearly all of Energy Fuels' second-quarter revenue of $25.1 million came from uranium, by our arithmetic from 310,000 pounds sold at an average of $80.48, according to its second-quarter results. That side of the business is covered in our nuclear fuel supply chain explainer.
The rare earth business is still being built. Its White Mesa Mill in Utah can separate up to 1,000 tons a year of NdPr oxide, and construction began on July 29 on a plant targeting 120 tons of dysprosium and 20 tons of terbium a year by the end of 2027. Those heavy rare earths are among the elements covered by China's April 2025 controls. Energy Fuels also holds a $725 million conditional loan commitment from the Office of Strategic Capital, which is not yet final. The company completed its acquisition of Australian Strategic Materials on August 28. In June, Energy Fuels agreed to buy magnet maker VAC for $1.9 billion, a deal expected to close in early 2027.
How the three differ on China
MP no longer sells to China and has a government floor under its NdPr price. USA Rare Earth still sources key raw materials from China while its Brazil operation ramps up. Energy Fuels is building a domestic source for heavy rare earths that China still licenses, but that business does not yet produce meaningful revenue. Rare earth magnets also matter to defense buyers, including drone makers.
The September 24 summit and the scheduled November 10 end of China's suspension are the next two dates that could change the rules for all three.
