Press Release: Mp Materials Announces Date For Fourth Quarter 2025 Financial Results And Webcast

Rare earth stocks MP Materials and Critical Metals traded barbs online after reports that the United States may pull back support for critical minerals companies by scrapping plans to set minimum price guarantees for their projects. The report sent shares of both companies sharply lower, adding to tensions between the rival players.

Shares of Critical Metals tumbled 10%, and MP Materials witnessed a sharp decline of over 4% in overnight trading, according to Yahoo Finance. MP Materials was one of the first companies to call out that the news was “inaccurate” and noted that any hint that the U.S. government is retreating from its commitments to MP Materials is simply false.

Last year, the U.S. Department of Defense, as part of its deal with MP Materials, said that it would guarantee a floor price of $110 per kilogram for the two most-popular rare earths, a price nearly twice the current Chinese market level.

CRML Vs MP

The reported change in stance by the Trump Administration, which made certain promises to the industry, comes at a time when rare earth stocks have been surging on the back of government support and are banking on a minimum price for critical mineral projects to help them compete with China.

However, within an hour of the Reuters report being published, Critical Metals Executive Chairman Tony Sage said the company “never has and never will need a floor price.” 

“We’re selling a unique concentrate with 27% heavies not the lights that need price support,” Sage said in a post on X.

MP Materials responded to Sage by taking a dig at Critical Metals’ performance. “Tony, that's amazing. I thought you sold nothing and had no revenue! My mistake!” MP Materials said in a post.

MP Materials has reported steady revenue over the past year, with $53.55 million in the latest quarter, compared to Critical Metals, which is still in its pre-revenue phase.https://x.com/MPMaterials/status/2016668238642335818

Sage, in another post, said the Trump Administration is pulling back from providing price support for rare earth elements. “CRML is selling a unique concentrate with 27% HREE [heavy rare earth elements], which WILL NOT require any price support mechanism like the ND/PR market. We support this free market approach,” he said.

“Remember 100% of our concentrate has already been pre sold and our business model is mine to processing without any price control mechanism,” Sage said.https://x.com/TonySage7237/status/2016671876752544115?s=20

MP Continues Outrage

Reuters reported that the pricing guarantee provided to MP raised concerns among administration officials and members of Congress about funding not authorized by Congress.

MP Materials hit back with another post after Reuters updated their story to say that the report “did not suggest that any part of MP's deal was in jeopardy.”

“Reuters has now updated the story again to say they didn’t actually imply the thing the whole article implied. Fascinating editorial process,” MP Materials said.

“My social media interns inform me this is what the kids call gaslighting,” the post read.https://x.com/MPMaterials/status/2016732163635654836

How Are Stocktwits Users Reacting?

Retail sentiment on Critical Metals dipped to ‘bullish’ from ‘extremely bullish’ from a week ago, while on MP Materials, sentiment improved to ‘extremely bullish’ from ‘bullish’ a day ago. 

A bearish user on Stocktwits said that the critical mineral stocks “are getting a sample of what the entire world has become accustomed to when dealing with the Trump Administration.”

https://www.stocktwits.com/ClosetIguana/message/643246682

Shares of Critical Metals are up 120%, and MP Materials stock has more than tripled in the last 12 months.

Shares of several critical mineral companies tumbled in after-hours trading on Wednesday after a Reuters report noted that the United States could be scaling back its support for these companies by setting minimum prices for their projects, including rare-earth mining.

USA Rare Earth stock tumbled over 10%; Critical Metals shares were down nearly 9%; MP Materials declined 8%; United States Antimony shares fell 9.5%, and The Metals Co. (TMC) stock was down over 5% after the bell following the report.

These rare-earth stocks have significantly gained since mid-last year on the back of government-backed funding for some firms, such as MP Materials, and the recent stake by the Trump Administration in USA Rare Earth as part of the country’s push to compete against China for the supply of critical minerals.

Government Pulling Back?

Reuters reported that the likely pullback in guaranteeing a minimum price for critical mineral projects stemmed from a lack of congressional funding and difficulty in aligning market pricing.

The report added that the shift marks a change in stance for the Trump Administration that had made certain promises to the industry, and citing two sources, noted that two senior Trump officials told U.S. minerals executives that without the price support by the government, these critical mineral projects would need to prove their financial independence.

MP Materials Investment Concerns

MP Materials in a post on X said that the Reuters report was “inaccurate, misleading, and inconsistent” with the facts. “It follows a pattern of speculative and misleading reporting that has repeatedly mischaracterized government policy and caused unnecessary confusion in the marketplace,” the company said.

The company said that there has been no change whatsoever to our contract or to the government’s obligations under it. “Any implication that the U.S. government has retreated from its commitments to MP Materials is simply false,” MP Materials said.

Reuters said the pricing guarantee provided to MP Materials raised concerns among administration officials and members of Congress about funding not authorized by Congress. The Trump administration reportedly realized it lacked the congressional authority to fund a price floor after reviewing other equity investments.

In a follow-up post on X, MP Materials said Reuters had “now stealth-edited” the story to add that this move does not impact the company’s price floor promised last year.https://x.com/MPMaterials/status/2016682056667853251

What Is Retail Thinking?

Retail sentiment on Critical Metals dipped to ‘bullish’ from ‘extremely bullish’ from a week ago, while on MP Materials, sentiment improved to ‘extremely bullish’ from ‘bullish’ a day ago. USA Rare Earth and TMC stock’s retail sentiment remained in ‘extremely bullish’ territory.

A user on Stocktwits said that CRML and MP are stocks that can be bought now and checked years later for returns.

https://www.stocktwits.com/Micah912/message/643235925

Another user noted that CRML stock was “too cheap to ignore” under $16.

https://www.stocktwits.com/Ajuntimes/message/643235501

Over the last 12 months, shares of USA Rare Earth have nearly doubled, Critical Metals shares are up 120%, MP Materials has more than tripled, United States Antimony has rocketed 439%, and TMC stock has ballooned by over 400%.