USA Rare Earth (NASDAQ:USAR) Shares Down 5.8% – Here’s Why

USA Rare Earth Inc. (NASDAQ:USAR) traded down 5.8% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $24.80 and last traded at $25.18. 20,793,151 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 5% from the average session volume of 21,973,762 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.72.

Key USA Rare Earth News

Here are the key news stories impacting USA Rare Earth this week:

• Positive Sentiment: U.S. Department of Commerce Letter‑of‑Intent for ~$1.6B (including a government equity stake of roughly 10%), a package structured as a ~$1.3B senior secured loan plus ~$277M in federal grants — major validation of USAR as a national‑security supplier of heavy rare earths. Washington’s $1.6B Endorsement Turns USA Rare Earth Into a Force
• Positive Sentiment: Concurrent private PIPE of about $1.5B (anchored by Inflection Point) brings total committed capital above $3.1B — funding the Round Top project (targeted commercial production ~late‑2028) and accelerating Stillwater magnet plant commissioning (Line 1a ramp targeted in Q1‑2026). Company GlobeNewswire LOI & PIPE release
• Positive Sentiment: Management narrative and media interviews (CEO described conversations with Commerce/DOE) have reinforced the view that the company has strong government access and strategic alignment — a factor investors view as reducing financing and permitting risk. How the USA Rare Earth deal with the Trump administration came together
• Neutral Sentiment: Company held a shareholder/analyst call and posted presentation/transcript with more project timelines and capital structure details — useful for parsing contingent milestones and timing but not yet definitive. Watch the filings for road‑map specifics. Shareholder/Analyst Call Presentation Shareholder/Analyst Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: The LOI is non‑binding and subject to conditions; the package includes equity and warrants that will dilute existing holders and execution risk remains — USAR is still pre‑revenue with key commercial milestones several years out. Some commentators urge caution (sell or take profits) until definitive agreements and delivery milestones are confirmed. US government is buying USA Rare Earth stock: here’s why you must ‘sell’

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on USAR shares. Benchmark initiated coverage on USA Rare Earth in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. They set a “buy” rating for the company. William Blair initiated coverage on USA Rare Earth in a report on Monday, October 20th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of USA Rare Earth in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of USA Rare Earth from $23.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of USA Rare Earth in a report on Monday, December 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, USA Rare Earth currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.00.

USA Rare Earth Trading Down 0.2%

The company has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -51.29 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $15.71 and a 200 day moving average of $17.13.

USA Rare Earth (NASDAQ:USAR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.25) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by ($0.19).

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in USAR. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its stake in USA Rare Earth by 44.0% in the 3rd quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 12,799,325 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,034,000 after purchasing an additional 3,909,455 shares in the last quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in USA Rare Earth by 53.9% in the 4th quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 1,213,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,445,000 after acquiring an additional 425,377 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of USA Rare Earth by 9.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 953,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,385,000 after acquiring an additional 86,134 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in USA Rare Earth by 2,437.5% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 653,290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,160,000 after acquiring an additional 627,545 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sovran Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of USA Rare Earth by 119.7% during the 4th quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 489,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,828,000 after acquiring an additional 266,783 shares during the period.

USA Rare Earth Company Profile

USA Rare Earth (NASDAQ: USAR) is a development-stage critical minerals company focused on advancing a fully integrated rare earth element (REE) and lithium project in the United States. Its flagship asset is the Round Top deposit in West Texas, a large, polymetallic concentration of light and heavy rare earth elements, lithium and other co-products. The company seeks to move this asset through resource delineation, pilot-scale processing and eventual commercial production to address growing domestic demand for secure REE supply chains.

In addition to exploration, USA Rare Earth is engineering an on-site separation facility that will utilize dry magnetic separation and hydrometallurgical flowsheets to produce mixed rare earth carbonates.