USA Rare Earth (USAR) closed at $15.42 on Friday, down 3.6% from its prior close of $16.00, with an intraday low of $15.05.
USA Rare Earth made a notable operational move this week, announcing the successful commissioning of its commercial magnet production line at its Stillwater, Oklahoma facility. The milestone allows the company to begin fulfilling customer orders for sintered neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) permanent magnets starting in Q2 2026.
The stock’s decline came on lighter-than-usual trading volume of around 8.74 million shares — roughly 55% below its average session volume of 19.5 million.
The company described the commissioning process as a complex, multi-step operation. It begins with forming rare earth and metallic elements into a fine powder, jet-milling it to between 3 and 5 microns in an oxygen-restricted environment, then pressing, machining, coating, and magnetizing the material into finished magnets.
More than 100 employees at the Stillwater facility manage the process from start to finish.
USAR’s Phase 1a production line is expected to ramp to a run rate capacity of 600 metric tons per annum (mtpa) by the end of Q4 2026.
When combined with its next planned production line, the company anticipates total active production capacity at Stillwater reaching 1,200 mtpa by Q1 2027.
The company has a 50-day moving average of $20.15 and a 200-day moving average of $18.76, putting Friday’s close well below both.
USAR carries a market capitalization of around $2.05 billion, a PE ratio of -29.65, and a beta of 1.05.
Despite the price drop, Wall Street remains broadly positive on the stock. Six analysts carry a Buy rating and one a Sell, giving it a consensus “Moderate Buy.” The average price target sits at $34.33 — more than double Friday’s close.
Canaccord Genuity raised its target from $23 to $33 in January, and Cantor Fitzgerald lifted its from $28 to $35, assigning an “overweight” rating.
Benchmark also initiated coverage with a Buy in January, while UBS reiterated its Buy in December.
Insider confidence has been building. In late January, Director Michael Blitzer purchased 100,000 shares at $21.44, a transaction valued at approximately $2.14 million. That represented a 13.4% increase in his position.
Director Carolyn Trabuco also bought 1,300 shares at $22.60 in the same period.
Combined, insiders now own approximately 46.6% of USAR’s outstanding stock.
On the institutional side, several funds have been building positions, including Larson Financial Group, which raised its stake by 217.5% in Q4, and NewEdge Advisors, which lifted its holding by 158.2%.
USAR’s Round Top deposit in West Texas — a polymetallic rare earth project — remains its core asset, with the Stillwater facility representing its downstream manufacturing push.
The commissioning of Phase 1a marks USAR’s first step toward commercial-scale magnet production, with the next line expected to bring total capacity to 1,200 mtpa by early 2027.
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