MP Materials Corp. (MP) shares soared 50.6% in the last trading session to close at $45.23. The move was backed by solid volume with far more shares changing hands than in a normal session. This compares to the stock's 17.1% gain over the past four weeks.
MP Materials shares surged on the announcement that it has entered into a public-private partnership with the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to fast-track the development of a domestic rare earth magnet supply chain.
As per the deal, MP will construct the second domestic magnet manufacturing facility (the 10X Facility), slated to begin commissioning in 2028. It will take MP Materials’ total U.S. rare earth magnet manufacturing capacity to an estimated 10,000 metric tons and will cater to both the defense and commercial sectors.
Under the 10-year agreement, DoD has established a price floor commitment of $110 per kilogram for MP Materials’ products stockpiled or sold, providing protection from market volatility. Also, DoD has committed that 100% of the magnets produced at the 10X Facility will be purchased by defense and commercial customers for 10 years.
This company is expected to post quarterly loss of $0.16 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +5.9%. Revenues are expected to be $43.09 million, up 37.9% from the year-ago quarter.
Earnings and revenue growth expectations certainly give a good sense of the potential strength in a stock, but empirical research shows that trends in earnings estimate revisions are strongly correlated with near-term stock price movements.
For MP Materials, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. And a stock's price usually doesn't keep moving higher in the absence of any trend in earnings estimate revisions. So, make sure to keep an eye on MP going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.
The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>
MP Materials is part of the Zacks Mining - Miscellaneous industry. Teck Resources Ltd (TECK), another stock in the same industry, closed the last trading session 1% higher at $38.81. TECK has returned -0.9% in the past month.
Teck Resources' consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has changed -3.9% over the past month to $0.22. Compared to the company's year-ago EPS, this represents a change of -62.1%. Teck Resources currently boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
