Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Price

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) had its price target dropped by stock analysts at Barclays from $69.00 to $65.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 43.66% from the stock’s current price.

MP has been the subject of a number of other reports. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on MP Materials from $70.00 to $71.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Citigroup restated a “positive” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wedbush increased their price target on MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.25.

MP Materials Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of MP opened at $45.24 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 6.58 and a current ratio of 7.18. MP Materials has a one year low of $43.82 and a one year high of $100.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -107.73 and a beta of 1.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $58.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.14.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.04. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 2.27% and a negative net margin of 28.00%.The firm had revenue of $90.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.82 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.12) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 49.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that MP Materials will post 0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 10,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $54.30 per share, with a total value of $543,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer directly owned 136,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,418,574.60. This trade represents a 7.90% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 109,017 shares in the company, valued at $8,176,275. This trade represents a 15.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,164,346 shares of company stock worth $76,757,068. Insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MP. Norges Bank acquired a new position in MP Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $82,531,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in MP Materials by 76.3% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,921,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,200,000 after buying an additional 1,264,243 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of MP Materials by 71.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,834,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,220,000 after acquiring an additional 1,183,307 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of MP Materials by 7.2% during the third quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd now owns 14,861,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $996,741,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in shares of MP Materials by 1,320.8% in the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 954,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,934,000 after acquiring an additional 887,148 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Barclays cut its price target on MP Materials to $65 from $69, but kept an Overweight rating, suggesting analysts still see meaningful upside from current levels. Barclays lowers MP Materials price target but keeps Overweight rating
• Positive Sentiment: MP Materials announced it will report second-quarter 2026 results on August 6, which keeps investors focused on upcoming catalysts and could provide clarity on production, costs, and the company’s rare-earth scale-up progress. MP Materials announces date for second quarter 2026 financial results and webcast
• Neutral Sentiment: Several analyst write-ups highlighted MP’s improving operating performance, strong liquidity, and policy support from the U.S. rare-earth push, but also noted premium valuation and execution risks around project ramp-up. MP Materials stock outlook hinges on rare earth scale-up plans
• Neutral Sentiment: Brokerage sentiment remains constructive overall, with an average “Buy” recommendation from analysts, reinforcing a generally favorable outlook. MP Materials receives average recommendation of Buy from brokerages
• Negative Sentiment: Commentary also stressed rising costs, incomplete project ramps, and customer/execution uncertainty, which could limit earnings momentum and help explain why MP remains volatile. MP Materials and the U.S. rare earth push are starting to align

MP Materials Company Profile

MP Materials Corporation operates as a vertically integrated producer of rare earth materials in North America. The company owns and manages the Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine and Processing Facility in California, the only commercially viable rare earth mining and processing site in the United States. MP Materials extracts, separates and refines critical rare earth elements—such as neodymium, praseodymium, and cerium—which are essential inputs for permanent magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, and various defense applications.

The Mountain Pass mine first began commercial rare earth production in the 1950s and was later operated by Molycorp until its bankruptcy in 2015.