MP Materials (NYSE:MP) is up 4% to trade at $55,80 this morning, after a Reuters report indicated China has been reportedly declining rare earth shipments to the U.S. The move has domestic rare earth suppliers MP and USA Rare Earth (USAR) higher, with the latter also up 5.3%.
MP stock is now up 10.5% in 2026, but a confluence of moving averages are sitting above today's rally. The shares are a far cry from their Oct. 14 record high of $100.25, but are also comfortably off their July 29 52-week low of $37.81.
A short squeeze is in play, with 20.4% of MP's total available float sold short. At the stock's average pace of trading it would take bears nearly five trading days to buy back their bearish bets.
Options are looking affordable, too. This is per the stock’s Schaeffer’s Volatility Index (SVI) of 31%, which ranks in the 7th annual percentile.