3 Stocks Trump Could Back Next as USA Rare Earths Revives the Federal Catalyst Trade

There are rallies that happen due to surprise earnings, and then there are rallies that happen because Washington picked a side.

In a recent MarketBeat interview, InvestorPlace’s Luke Lango suggested 2026 is setting up for more of the second kind. The White House has started placing targeted bets in industries it views as mission-critical to the AI era, and those moves can reprice a stock in days instead of quarters. The opportunity for investors is obvious, but so is the risk.

Once a “federal catalyst” trade starts working, it attracts attention fast.

USA Rare Earths Reignited the “Federal Catalyst” Trade

Lango called USA Rare Earths (NASDAQ: USAR) the latest proof that this theme can move quickly.

He laid out the deal terms: $1.6 billion in cash, $1.3 billion in debt financing, and a 10% White House stake. For a name most investors weren’t watching closely a few months ago, that kind of headline can instantly change the market’s perception of possibilities and timing.

The stock move underscored the point, especially after the White House stake sent shares sharply higher. Lango said USAR was roughly a $10 stock around late December before it raced toward $30 within weeks. That kind of move puts USAR’s recent run from the mid-to-late December levels front and center, along with the stock’s 52-week range and recent trend.

Big, fast repricings like that tend to split the audience: one group chases momentum, and another steps back to ask what the government is trying to build and which companies could benefit next.

Lango’s “why” is the durable part. Rare earths aren’t just another commodity cycle in his view. They’re a strategic input across the AI buildout, including motors, magnets, data center hardware, and physical AI devices. In addition, the United States is trying to reduce dependence on China, which controls most of the processing market.

MP Materials Sold Off, But the Signal May Have Strengthened

USAR’s announcement also clipped MP Materials (NYSE: MP) in the short term, and Lango argued it was more about narrative than fundamentals.

MP had been treated as the national champion since a government-backed move in July 2025. A second rare earth “winner” turns a monopoly narrative into a duopoly narrative, and markets often react to that shift before they take time to rethink the bigger picture.

Lango argued the knee-jerk reaction may be the wrong framing. His thought process was simple: a duopoly can still be a massive winner if the government actively expands the domestic market.

“I’d rather have MP be a duopoly in a massive domestic rare earth industry than a monopoly in a not-massive domestic rare earths industry,” he said.

In other words, Washington didn’t shrink the prize. It signaled that it intends to scale the prize.

The practical question for MP investors becomes less about a one-week dip and more about expectations. If the White House is underwriting domestic mining and magnet manufacturing, the market’s focus can shift toward what it means for demand visibility, capital access, and the long runway implied by a multi-year buildout.

Investors can track MarketBeat’s analyst forecast for MP, including the latest analyst ratings, price target updates, consensus price target, and implied upside.

White House Watchlist: 3 Stocks Trump Could Take a Stake In Next

Lango’s takeaway wasn’t just about rare earths—he sees the same “federal catalyst” setup forming around the next chokepoints in the AI economy. Here are three stocks he highlighted as potential candidates for the next Washington-backed headline.

1. GlobalFoundries: A Second Chip Bet That Fits the Pattern

Lango's view is that the White House isn’t making a single bet in a single sector; it is making multiple bets across strategic bottlenecks. And chip manufacturing is a logical place to watch for a “double up” after Intel (NASDAQ: INTC).

His pick was GlobalFoundries (NASDAQ: GFS). The argument wasn’t centered on bleeding-edge AI GPUs, it was about what he called the “boring chips,” i.e., the semiconductors used across industrial systems and defense applications where reliability matters as much as performance.

If Washington is leaning into domestic capacity and national security priorities, the less glamorous part of the chip stack can become more strategic than the market gives it credit for.

On the question of buying strength, Lango leaned into momentum.

“The data suggests that what the most likely thing a stock does after it hits all-time highs is hit more all-time highs,” he said.

In this kind of tape, the more useful question becomes whether expectations can keep up with the trend when the next catalyst arrives, especially ahead of GlobalFoundries' next earnings date. That also puts consensus earnings per share (EPS) and revenue estimates for the next quarter in focus, alongside the latest analyst ratings price target updates, and the stock’s 52-week range.

2. Oklo: The People-and-Policy Setup in Nuclear

Another major theme for Lango was nuclear, which is tied to a constraint that’s getting louder: AI needs electricity, and electricity is becoming a real-economy bottleneck. He argued the administration is prioritizing energy broadly, and that the nuclear lane is getting special attention as red tape is cut and timelines are compressed.

His higher-probability candidate for direct support was Oklo (NYSE: OKLO).

Lango emphasized what he called the “people connections,” pointing to Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s background in the nuclear industry and Oklo’s proximity to the small modular reactor push.

He also noted Oklo’s ties to Sam Altman and the broader AI ecosystem, which keeps the company close to the policy conversation.

The investable tension is that Oklo is still early. That means the stock can trade more on policy momentum and funding signals than on mature operating metrics, especially in a market that has been willing to price optionality aggressively.

Lango’s view is that if Washington repeats the “cash infusion” pattern, the market could quickly re-rate the timeline, even if execution still takes time. 

Investors can contextualize the setup by looking at Oklo’s progress in its most recent earnings report, as well as the latest analyst ratings and price target updates.

3. Energy Fuels: The “Speed” Play in Processing Capacity

When discussing speed, Lango highlighted Energy Fuels (NYSEAMERICAN: UUUU)'s White Mesa Mill in Utah. This is existing, operating infrastructure—something that matters if the government wants domestic capability sooner rather than later, instead of waiting for greenfield projects to come online years from now.

He also framed Energy Fuels as a rarer combination story: uranium exposure plus rare earth processing. In the rare earth narrative, it’s not enough to mine material. The bottleneck is often processing, turning material into usable inputs. Lango argued that if the government wants a sovereign processing hub and wants it quickly, Energy Fuels’ “ready now” advantage makes it a realistic target for support.

Asked about upside after a sharp run, Lango pushed investors to think in longer timelines. He argued these stories shouldn’t be judged by trailing valuation optics when the core question is how big the industry can become and who ends up as a scaled player. A large cash infusion, in his view, can reduce operational risk and compress timelines, which is exactly why these trades can move abruptly.

For additional context, investors can look at the stock’s 52-week range after a big run as well as the operating updates discussed in its most recent earnings report. As we head into the next quarter, it's important to keep an eye on the latest analyst ratings, price target updates, consensus EPS, and revenue estimates.

The Pattern Matters More Than the Pop

Lango’s underlying point is that the government may keep repeating itself. It has backed rare earths, signaled interest in domestic manufacturing, and prioritized energy. Investors don’t have to agree with the politics to recognize the market behavior it creates.

The upside case is straightforward: if more “federal catalyst” headlines hit, names closest to strategic bottlenecks can reprice quickly as risk is removed and timelines compress.

However, these stories can be headline-driven and volatile. Sentiment can swing with policy messaging, project timelines, and the broader tape. Staying grounded means tracking what actually changes, including funding, contracts, approvals, and execution milestones, rather than assuming every headline becomes a straight line.

Investors should stay focused on the bottlenecks, because that’s what moves the next wave of federal-catalyst stocks.

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