Copper, rare earths, and the powerful magnets made from them sit inside electric vehicles, wind turbines, data centers, and military guidance systems. For years, the United States has depended heavily on China for much of that supply. Washington is now working to reduce that dependence, and the effort has opened a window for a handful of American-linked producers.
The government is backing the push with price supports, Department of Defense and Department of Energy grants, low-cost loans, tax credits, and fast-tracked permitting. Three stocks stand to benefit, but they present very different situations, from an established miner with rising profits to a company that has yet to turn a profit.
Freeport-McMoRan (FCX): The Established Giant
Freeport-McMoRan is one of the world’s largest copper producers, and copper is used in electronics, electric vehicles, wind and solar infrastructure, defense systems, and AI data center equipment. It also produces molybdenum, which strengthens steel, and gold.
The business is growing. Third-quarter revenue reached $7.5 billion, up 8% from a year earlier, and earnings per share of $0.81 jumped 76%. The Grasberg district in Indonesia holds one of the world’s largest single copper and gold deposits, and Freeport also runs significant copper mines in Arizona, New Mexico, Peru, and Chile. It received an $80 million grant last year from the Department of Energy for its MILESHIGH Project.
Shares trade around $63, up more than 29% this year, the only one of the four stocks in the source that has gained in 2026. The market cap is about $90.4 billion and the dividend yield is about 0.5%.
MP Materials (MP): The Only Large-Scale Rare-Earth Site in the U.S.
MP Materials owns the Mountain Pass mine in California, the only active, large-scale rare-earth mining and processing site in the United States. The processing side is what makes it important, since few alternatives exist outside China.
The company is increasing output of neodymium and praseodymium, elements used in the ultra-strong permanent magnets found in EV motors, wind turbine generators, and military guidance systems. In the second quarter, revenue rose 59% to $108.4 million, and the net loss narrowed by 34% to $20.3 million. NdPr production reached 840 metric tons, up 41%, while sales rose 127% to 1,006 metric tons.
Government backing has been significant, including a $35 million Defense Department grant in 2022 for the first heavy rare-earth separation facility in the U.S. and a $150 million loan from the Office of Strategic Capital in August 2025. Even so, the stock trades near $38, down more than 19% this year, for a market cap of about $6.8 billion.
USA Rare Earth (USAR): The High-Risk Mine-to-Magnet Bet
USA Rare Earth is building a supply chain that runs from mine to finished magnet. It holds the mining rights to the Round Top deposit in West Texas, which contains heavy rare-earth elements, and it spent $2.8 billion to buy the Serra Verde Group, owner of the Pela Ema mine and processing plant in Brazil. That deal secures the only large-scale producer of heavy rare earths outside Asia.
Magnet production is underway at a facility in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The company has just broken ground on a second site in Blacksburg, South Carolina, and is finishing a processing facility in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. It has roughly $1.6 billion in funding from the U.S. Commerce Department.
The risks are real. The company isn’t profitable, produces little revenue, and must prove it can run efficiently once all its facilities are online. Shares trade near $8.86, down more than 12% this year, for a market cap of about $3.3 billion.
Matching Risk to Reward
Freeport-McMoRan is the safest of the three, with growing earnings, a stock that has risen this year, and an established business. MP Materials sits in the middle, with improving financials and a strategic asset, but a share price that has fallen. USA Rare Earth is the most speculative, a development-stage company with large ambitions. All three share one tailwind in government support for domestic supply, and the industry is early enough that it’s hard to say who the long-term winners will be. Companies with a head start, like Freeport and MP, have a natural advantage.
