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Can USA Rare Earth's Stillwater Facility Fuel Its Near-Term Momentum?

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Key Takeaways

  • USA Rare Earth is advancing its Stillwater magnet facility toward early-2026 commissioning.
  • The company raised more than $400M to upgrade the plant and expand capacity to about 1,200 metric tons.
  • USAR's acquisition of Less Common Metals secures alloy feedstock for scaling Stillwater output.

USA Rare Earth, Inc. (USAR - Free Report) is working to move its Stillwater magnet manufacturing facility in Oklahoma closer to commercial production. The plant is designed to produce Neodymium Iron Boron (NdFeB) magnets, which are essential for defense, domestic, aviation, automotive and other high-growth applications. The Stillwater facility is likely to become one of the first large-scale magnet plants in the United States, supporting the country’s efforts to build a domestic rare earth supply chain.

So far in 2025, at the Stillwater facility, USAR focused on installing equipment, assembling Line 1a and preparing for commissioning in early 2026. The company also began hiring and training engineers and technicians to operate the facility. These efforts are expected to improve USAR’s ability to reach commercial-scale production and help it secure long-term customer contracts.

To support its progress, USA Rare Earth strengthened its balance sheet by raising significant capital through PIPE financing and warrant exercises, bringing its total cash position to more than $400 million as of November 2025. This funding is being used to make upgrades at the Stillwater plant, expand magnet finishing capabilities and complete Line 1b to increase total NdFeB magnet-producing capacity to roughly 1,200 metric tons.

Also, in November 2025, USAR completed the acquisition of Less Common Metals, which will supply critical metal and alloy feedstock for the Stillwater plant. With this addition and steady progress across its development plans, the company is well-positioned to expand its capacity and scale production in the quarters ahead.

Snapshot of USA Rare Earth’s Peers

Among its major peers, NioCorp Developments Ltd. (NB - Free Report) is working to move its Elk Creek Project in Nebraska closer to production. In August 2025, NioCorp completed its first drilling program at the Elk Creek Project on schedule and within budget. Because the campaign was timely and cost-effective, NioCorp is launching a second phase with up to six additional drill holes to further improve resource quality and gather data to reduce risks in the mine design.

Its another peer, Trilogy Metals Inc. (TMQ - Free Report) continues to make steady progress at the Ambler mining district. Although Trilogy is not yet in production, it is taking a step ahead with Ambler Metals LLC, which is a joint venture with South32 Limited. In July 2025, Trilogy began a multi-year core re-boxing program to protect drill core for long-term future use.

USAR’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates

Shares of USAR have surged 27.1% in the past year compared with the industry’s growth of 15.4%.

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From a valuation standpoint, USAR is trading at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of negative 31.79X against the industry’s average of 15.21X. USA Rare Earth carries a Value Score of D.

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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for USAR’s 2025 earnings has declined over the past 30 days.

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Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.


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