U.S. Rare Earth Stocks Plunge 8% in a Day, Market Cap Shrinks by 850 Billion Won

MP Materials Corp. shares plunged 8.35% on the New York Stock Exchange to close at $47.48, with trading volume surging to 6.68 million shares—well above the norm.

In a single session, the company erased roughly $650 million (about ₩850 billion) in market capitalization, yet its total market value still stands near $8.4 billion (around ₩11 trillion).

Analysts attribute the renewed volatility to quarterly sales that fell short of expectations, worries over rare-earth prices and softening demand out of China, and a succession of mixed broker reports.

Despite this, factors such as institutional investors boosting their stakes, Deutsche Bank’s participation in a virtual investor event, and joint rare-earth refining ventures with the U.S. Department of Defense and Saudi Ma’aden are cited as supportive of the company’s long-term growth story.

MP Materials is the only fully integrated rare-earth producer in North America, owning and operating the Mountain Pass mine in California. It mines and refines light rare-earth elements—chiefly neodymium and praseodymium—for high-performance permanent magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines and defense applications.

The company has inked a $500 million long-term magnet supply agreement with Apple and is pursuing a “10-fold expansion” magnet plant through multi-trillion-won public-private partnerships with the U.S. Department of Defense, positioning itself as a linchpin in America’s drive for an independent rare-earth supply chain.