Here's Why MP Materials Stock Slumped in December (And Why It's Surging in 2026)

• Easing commercialized tensions with China tends to beryllium bearish for the stock.

• Reasons events successful Venezuela person ignited optimism for the company's prospects.

• 10 stocks we similar amended than MP Materials ›

Shares successful MP Materials (NYSE: MP) person experienced a volatile thrust implicit the past fewer months. They declined by 18.5% successful December according to information provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence, lone to emergence by 23.7% successful 2026 arsenic I write. What's going connected and what tin investors expect successful the future?

Rare-earth materials took a deed successful October aft China agreed to a one-year hold successful imposing restrictions connected rare-earth exports to the U.S. While that's a affirmative for the U.S. connected the whole, it serves to trim the clamor for urgent enactment to unafraid a home proviso of rare-earth materials and magnets captious to the modern economy.

MP Materials has been a large beneficiary of that inclination with a transformative public-private concern woody signed with the Department of Defense successful July. A fewer days later, MP Materials signed a $500 cardinal concern with Apple.

As such, investors often dainty the banal arsenic a proxy for geopolitical events relating to rare-earth materials and magnets. When commercialized tensions flare up, the marketplace starts pricing successful MP Materials arsenic the solution to the problem, and erstwhile they ease, investors commencement remembering that the institution has plentifulness of hazard embedded successful it. Those risks see governmental hazard (the U.S. authorities owns a involvement successful MP Materials), imaginable regulatory hurdles from aboriginal U.S. administrations, execution hazard associated with the operation of its caller "10X Facility", and the request for aboriginal funding.

The easing of commercialized tensions with China (a state that controls 90% of planetary rare-earth magnet production) done the past 4th of the twelvemonth caused stock terms weakness, resulting successful an 18.5% alteration successful the banal terms successful December.

That said, rare-earths mightiness beryllium rare, but they are seldom retired of the headlines, peculiarly erstwhile it comes to geopolitical events. That constituent came location to roost aft caller events successful Venezuela, wherever the marketplace is present pricing successful the anticipation of amended trading relations with Venezuela, a state affluent successful resources, including rare-earth materials successful the Orinoco Mining Arc.

That could beryllium bully quality for MP Materials, arsenic it not lone has the Mountain Pass rare-earth deposit successful California but besides operates a magnet accumulation installation successful Texas and plans to physique and unfastened the "10X Facility" successful 2028.