Why MP Materials Stock Popped 11% Today
Shares of MP Materials (NYSE: MP), a miner of rare earth metals, shot up 11% through 10:15 a.m. ET Tuesday morning after China announced restrictions on exports to the U.S. of certain products containing gallium, germanium, antimony, and "superhard materials," according to a Reuters report.
China is responding to analogous U.S. restrictions on exports to China of semiconductor chips and chipmaking technology. These new restrictions build on prior restrictions, announced in December 2023, on technology useful in manufacturing rare earth magnets.
MP Materials is arguably America's leading producer of rare earth ore, which can be refined into rare earth metals, which can then be used to manufacture rare earth magnets (used in everything from electric car motors to wind turbines to high-tech defense products such as military drones). The company produces primarily neodymium-praseodymium (Nd-Pr) ore and metal, however, which don't appear to be the primary target of China's just-announced export restrictions -- so there's no immediate relationship between the export ban and today's spike in MP's share price.
Source Fool.com
