MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Falls 3.5% on Analyst Downgrade

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)’s share price fell 3.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on the stock from $82.00 to $70.00. Canaccord Genuity Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. MP Materials traded as low as $35.60 and last traded at $36.42. Approximately 4,944,406 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 22% from the average session volume of 6,379,844 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.75.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Citigroup reissued a “positive” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Thursday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on MP Materials from $75.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on MP Materials from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MP Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.50.

Key Headlines Impacting MP Materials

Here are the key news stories impacting MP Materials this week:

• Positive Sentiment: MP reported third-quarter revenue of $147.7 million, up 176% year over year, and adjusted EPS of $0.04, beating estimates. Higher NdPr sales and pricing helped results. MP Q3 Earnings Beat Estimates on Higher NdPr Sales and Pricing
• Positive Sentiment: Management said customer demand is roughly 10 times planned capacity, with GM magnet shipments approaching. Jefferies also highlighted production growth and the magnet ramp-up after results. MP Q3 Earnings Call Highlights Jefferies highlights rare earth production growth and magnet ramp-up
• Neutral Sentiment: China extended its suspension of certain rare-earth export controls until January. That may ease near-term supply concerns, though it is a temporary reprieve ahead of planned U.S.-China talks. China extends rare-earth reprieve
• Negative Sentiment: Barclays cut its price target to $54 from $65, and Canaccord lowered its target to $70 from $82. Both firms retained positive ratings—Overweight and Buy, respectively—but the reductions may pressure near-term sentiment. Magnet-factory expansion is also increasing costs. Barclays lowers MP Materials price target Canaccord lowers price target

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Toth Financial Advisory Corp lifted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 73.3% in the second quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in MP Materials by 2.0% during the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 11,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $547,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in MP Materials by 4.5% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 5,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $318,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. NFSG Corp grew its position in MP Materials by 5.0% during the first quarter. NFSG Corp now owns 5,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the period. Finally, Putney Financial Group LLC grew its position in MP Materials by 4.4% during the third quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC now owns 6,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $290,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 8.56, a current ratio of 9.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market capitalization of $6.49 billion, a PE ratio of -165.55 and a beta of 2.05. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.30.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.06. The company had revenue of $147.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.37 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 19.85% and a negative return on equity of 1.21%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 175.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.10) EPS. On average, research analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About MP Materials

MP Materials operates the Mountain Pass rare earth mine and processing facility in California. The site is a major North American source of rare earth materials, which are used in products such as electric vehicles, wind turbines, electronics and defense systems. The company mines and processes rare earth ore into concentrate and separated products, including neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr), a key input for high-strength permanent magnets. MP Materials is also developing domestic magnet manufacturing capabilities to extend its business further along the supply chain.