USA Rare Earth stock rose 8%, Critical Metals jumped 10%, and MP Materials climbed 5% on Friday as a broad rotation into hard assets lifted the critical-minerals sector while the S&P 500 barely moved. The rally tracked a bond selloff that pushed 30-year Treasury yields to their highest level since 2007, with gold and the VanEck Rare Earth and Strategic Metals ETF also higher. MP Materials moved least among the gainers because it already produces at scale, while thinly traded Critical Metals swung hardest.
USA Rare Earth stock climbed 8% to $18.40 in early trading on Friday, while Critical Metals shares jumped 10% to $6.37. MP Materials stock rose 5% to $58, and United States Antimony shares added 4% to $5.48, extending gains from Wednesday's buyback announcement. There was no fresh company news behind the moves — this was a sector rotation into hard assets, showing up first where liquidity runs thinnest.
ETF outruns the broad market
The VanEck Rare Earth and Strategic Metals ETF climbed 6% to $80.28, outrunning the S&P 500's 0.3% gain and the Nasdaq 100's 0.1% gain.
Gold rose 1.63% over the past 24 hours to $4,646.10 per ounce while the U.S. dollar index fell 0.2%.
That followed a bond selloff that pushed the 30-year Treasury yield to its highest level since 2007, after U.S. debt crossed $40 trillion and the Treasury moved to double its bond buybacks. The 30-year yield printed 5.19%, at the 94.4 percentile of its one-year range, a level that historically pushes flow into scarce physical commodities and the miners that produce them. Two days earlier, the same complex stayed quiet while United States Antimony moved alone on its $100 million buyback authorization.
Where the names diverge
USA Rare Earth is valued almost entirely on promise rather than production. In Q2 2026, the company generated $5.8 million in revenue against a $46.3 million loss from operations, burned $56.9 million in cash, and ended the quarter with $1.5 billion in cash and a $2.8 billion agreement to acquire Serra Verde Group. The stock is more than 50% below its 52-week high and up 55% year to date, so sentiment moves the name hard in both directions.
Critical Metals posted the largest percentage gain off the weakest base. Even after Friday's rally, CRML shares remain down 16% year to date, the only name in the group still in the red. Its Tanbreez rare earths deposit in Greenland and Wolfsberg lithium project in Austria are pre-revenue, with production not expected until 2028 or 2029.
MP Materials moved the least among the gainers because it already produces at scale, anchored by Mountain Pass in California and the Independence magnet facility in Fort Worth, Texas. The stock carries an analyst target price of $75.38, with 13 Buy and 5 Strong Buy ratings.
United States Antimony says it is the only fully integrated antimony producer outside of China and Russia. Its board authorized a $100 million share repurchase program on Wednesday, days after cutting full-year revenue guidance to a range of $60 million to $75 million from $125 million.
What to watch next
The VanEck ETF is a narrow thematic vehicle whose daily moves track a small set of mining and processing names, carrying single-country policy risk and small-cap concentration risk. A rule change in one producing jurisdiction, or a rerating in a handful of top holdings, can drive outsized swings in the fund.
USA Rare Earth's 55% year-to-date run and the fund's 36% one-year gain show how fast these moves compound in either direction. Investors can watch gold and the long end of the Treasury curve for the next signal, since a drift back in yields or a stronger dollar would take the momentum out of the trade.
Source: 24/7 Wall St.
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