MP Materials posts surprise adjusted profit

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MP Materials (NYSE: MP), America’s only rare earth miner, earned an unexpected adjusted quarterly profit as sales volumes of magnet-making rare earths nearly doubled and a specialty-material shipment boosted revenue.

MP posted an adjusted $8.8 million, or 4¢ a share, in the three months to Sept. 30, the company reported Thursday. The result, which excludes expenses including stock-based pay and plant startup costs, beat analysts’ forecast of a 1¢ loss and reversed a 10¢ loss a year earlier.

“Our growth is supported by contracted cash flows, committed customers and long-term partnerships across industry and government,” CEO James Litinsky told analysts on Thursday’s earnings call.

The performance by the company, which mines and processes rare earths at Mountain Pass in California, about 80 km southwest of Las Vegas by road, highlights the growing contribution from a rare earth processing business. MP is building a domestic magnet supply chain with direct U.S. government equity investment. Sustaining that improvement will matter while finished-magnet sales build gradually.

Shares rose 4.5% to $35.25 around mid-Friday in New York, valuing the Las Vegas-based company at about $6.3 billion.

Sales jump

Revenue nearly tripled to $147.7 million, about 27% above the Zacks Investment Research consensus estimate. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) reached $41.1 million, reversing a $12.6-million loss a year earlier.

However, revenue included a $31.6-million sale of mixed rare earth material from inventory to a U.S. aerospace and defence customer. Chief financial officer Ryan Corbett described the transaction as a one-time sale. Excluding it, revenue would have been about $116.1 million, close to analysts’ expectations.

MP still recorded a net loss under standard accounting of $20.7 million, or 12¢ a share, compared with $41.8 million, or 24¢, a year earlier.

Price support

The company separately recognized $8.1 million in income under its Pentagon price-protection agreement. The 2025 partnership established a 10-year floor of $110 per kg for neodymium-praseodymium, used in powerful permanent magnets, alongside financing and commitments to buy future magnet output.

Sales of neodymium-praseodymium rose 94% to 1,020 tonnes, while production increased 41% to a quarterly record of 1,018 tonnes.

For the fourth quarter, management expects sales of about 1,000 tonnes at a realized price of roughly $100 per kilogram. It expects another $8 per kg in price-protection income on those sales.

Magnet ramp

MP completed magnet qualification with General Motors (NYSE: GM), clearing the way for saleable deliveries and revenue this quarter from its Independence plant in Fort Worth, Texas.

Corbett cautioned that shipments would build slowly as GM uses existing supplies and introduces MP’s magnets into individual vehicle programs and plants. The segment is expected to generate only modest adjusted EBITDA in 2027, before showing its full earnings power in 2028.

The company’s larger 10X magnet plant in Northlake, Texas, remains scheduled to begin commissioning in late 2028.