2026 06 03 MP Materials MP Q1 2026 Earnings Call

Summary

MP Materials Q1 2026: Record NdPr oxide production 917 MT (+63% YoY), revenue $132.9M. CEO Litinsky: "access to NdPr oxide will remain the binding constraint for at least the next five years." HREE (terbium/dysprosium) separation circuit commissioning Q2 2026 — a milestone for China-independence. Apple prepayments $72M. 10x magnet facility groundbreaking complete.

Transcript

James H. Litinsky: "Building on a very strong 2025, we carried that momentum into 2026, delivering solid operational and financial performance across our platform in the quarter."

"The materials segment achieved record NdPr oxide production of 917 metric tons, representing 63% year-over-year growth and 28% sequential increase. Sales volume reached 1,006 metric tons, more than doubling prior-year levels."

"Importantly, Michael and the team continue to make meaningful progress on the heavy rare earth separation circuit, which we expect to begin commissioning here in the second quarter."

"As I have consistently said, I continue to believe that access to NdPr oxide will remain the binding constraint for economically viable rare earth magnet production outside of China for at least the next five years."

Ryan S. Corbett: "At the consolidated level, the company generated $132.9 million in revenue and PPA income, along with $36.6 million of adjusted EBITDA. Adjusted diluted EPS reached $0.03 per share compared to a loss of $0.12 per share in Q1 2025."

"Based on our current view of sales mix and timing, we expect second-quarter realized pricing to be in the low to mid-$90s per kilogram, with the PPA agreement mostly offsetting any difference between our realized price and the $110 per kilogram floor."

"CapEx in the quarter totaled $77.4 million, with full-year guidance of $500 million to $600 million."

Michael Stuart Rosenthal: "We delivered a solid quarter of production at Mountain Pass, with concentrate recovery and grade performing particularly well."

"We expect to achieve a single-digit quarter-over-quarter decline in NdPr oxide production in Q2, followed by significant sequential growth in Q3."

"The heavy rare earth separation circuit remains on schedule to begin commissioning in Q2 and to produce terbium and dysprosium later this year."

"Design is nearing completion, all major equipment is now on order, and we remain on track to achieve our targeted start-up production dates [for 10x Independence expansion to 3,000 MT annual magnet capacity]."

George Gianarikas (Canaccord Genuity): "Asked about the operational moat from Independence and barriers for greenfield competitors."

James Litinsky: "We think that having our existing refinery is really a significant advantage, at least for the foreseeable future — five-plus years — because any of the projects that we see around the world, if it is a non-China supply chain, is ultimately very likely to come into our refinery."

"These projects are really hard — having done this for a decade now, there is a tendency to look at projects and say p times q equals this, and that is the cash flow. The reality is these typically take a long time to bring online, are often more expensive than you think, and take several years to ramp."

Brian Lee (Goldman Sachs): "Materials segment EBITDA margins and cost trajectory."

James Litinsky: "Engagement is very high and remains extraordinary. What we see around the world with the change in warfare points to an increasing recognition that the world has changed."

"Our business is contracted. Independence is going to be essentially for GM and Apple. When we look at 10x, we will take our time to thoughtfully build out the customer base."

Ryan S. Corbett: "We continue to see a clear path to pulling costs out of that business as we get to run-rate volumes and stably operate at run-rate volumes."

Corinne Blanchard (Deutsche Bank): "Production cadence and Middle East conflict impacts."

James Litinsky: "The events in the Middle East have accelerated and magnified the perspective around drones and robotics being the future of warfare. It is very likely the future of warfare will involve millions, eventually billions, of robots and drones working in cohesion, which is a huge demand accelerant for rare earth magnetics."

Michael Stuart Rosenthal: "We expect production of NdPr in the second quarter to be down slightly quarter-over-quarter. We expect the third quarter to show a material improvement, and then continued progress towards reaching our 500-ton-per-month run rate by the end of this year."

William Chapman Peterson (JPMorgan): "Cost reduction progress toward $40/kg target."

Ryan S. Corbett: "Getting through the PPAP process unlocks moving into revenue on the magnet side. We are producing behind the scenes; we need saleable PPAP status to start recognizing revenue."

Carlos De Alba (Morgan Stanley): "Incentive pricing for NdPr capacity expansion."

James Litinsky: "The incentive price is materially higher than people think when you add up geology, mining and refining, and time to get online. It is certainly materially higher than today's prices."

"There is very limited uncommitted NdPr supply available to support what Adamas Intelligence research projects to be more than 60,000 tons of existing and announced Western magnet capacity over the coming years."