MP Materials Corp. (NYSE: MP) (“MP Materials” or the “Company”), today announced financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2022.

“The MP team delivered strong execution and performance in the first quarter, highlighted by record quarterly revenues and profitability. We benefited from our continued focus on cost discipline and strong realized pricing,” said MP Materials Chairman and CEO, James H. Litinsky. “We are making steady progress on our goal to restore the full rare earth supply chain to the United States, including our Stage II project at Mountain Pass and our initial Stage III magnetics facility in Texas.”

First Quarter 2022 Financial and Operating Highlights

Revenue increased 177% year-over-year, driven by increases in the realized price of rare earth oxide (“REO”) in concentrate and metric tons (“MT”) of REO sold. The 135% increase in realized price compared to the first quarter of 2021 was due to higher demand for rare earths driving increased market prices. The 20% year-over-year increase in MTs sold was mainly due to higher production volumes and the timing of shipments, which fluctuate quarter-to-quarter but approximate production volumes over time. The 10% increase in production volumes compared to the first quarter of 2021 was due to improvements in the efficiency of our processing operations, mainly from higher ore feed rates and recoveries, as well as slightly higher mill uptime.

Adjusted EBITDA increased 301% year-over-year, driven by higher per-unit profitability, partially offset by higher personnel and other general and administrative costs, and advanced projects and development costs. Per-unit profitability improvements were driven primarily by higher realized prices. In addition, production costs would have declined slightly year-over-year when excluding the impact of costs associated with the commissioning of the combined heat and power (“CHP”) plant as well as hiring ahead of the restart of Stage II facilities. On a reported basis, production cost of $1,594 per MT of REO increased 8% year-over-year, mainly driven by the impacts of the commissioning of the CHP plant as well as the employee headcount, discussed above, while production efficiencies achieved during the quarter more than offset higher material, supplies, and payroll costs.

Net income increased 431% year-over-year, driven by significantly higher Adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter of 2022. Net income in the first quarter of 2022 was negatively impacted by higher income tax expense associated with an increase in pre-tax income; higher non-cash, stock-based compensation expense as well as an increase in advanced projects, start-up, and development costs associated with the acceleration in Stage II and Stage III plans. Adjusted Net Income increased by 316% year-over-year to $96.3 million, mainly due to higher Adjusted EBITDA, partially offset by higher income tax expense related mainly to higher pre-tax earnings.

Diluted earnings per share (“EPS”) increased 400% year-over-year to $0.45 driven by the higher net income discussed above. Adjusted Diluted EPS increased 285% to $0.50 due to the increase in Adjusted Net Income discussed above. Also impacting both comparisons was a 8% year-over-year increase in diluted weighted-average shares outstanding due to the issuance of a convertible bond in March 2021.

Conference Call Details

MP Materials will host a conference call to discuss these results at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time, Thursday, May 5, 2022. To access the conference call, participants should dial 1-844-405-1519 and international participants should dial 1-236-714-3004 and enter the conference ID number 1794885. The live audio webcast along with the press release and accompanying slide presentation, will be accessible at investors.mpmaterials.com. A recording of the webcast will also be available following the conference call.

About MP Materials

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE: MP) is the largest producer of rare earth materials in the Western Hemisphere. The Company owns and operates the Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine and Processing Facility (“Mountain Pass”), America’s only active and scaled rare earth mining and processing site. MP Materials produced approximately 15% of the rare earth content consumed in the global market in 2021. Separated rare earth elements are critical inputs for the magnets that enable the mobility of electric vehicles, drones, defense systems, wind turbines, robotics and many other high-growth, advanced technologies. MP Materials’ integrated operations at Mountain Pass combine low production costs with high environmental standards, thereby restoring American leadership to a critical industry with a strong commitment to sustainability. More information is available at https://mpmaterials.com/.

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Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains certain statements that are not historical facts and are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as “estimate,” “plan,” “project,” “forecast,” “intend,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “seek,” “will,” “target,” or similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the market for rare earth materials, future demand for electric vehicles and magnets, estimates and forecasts of our results of operations and other financial and performance metrics, and the Company’s Stage II and Stage III projects. Such statements are all subject to risks, uncertainties and changes in circumstances that could significantly affect the Company’s future financial results and business.

Accordingly, the Company cautions that the forward-looking statements contained herein are qualified by important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected by such statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including changes in domestic and foreign business, market, financial, political and legal conditions; changes in demand for NdFeB magnets; the effects of competition on the Company’s future business; risks related to the rollout of the Company’s business strategy, including Stage II and Stage III, and the timing of achieving expected business milestones; risks related to the Company’s long-term agreement with General Motors, including the Company’s ability to produce and supply NdFeB magnets; the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic, on any of the foregoing risks; and those risk factors discussed in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and other documents filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. If any of these risks materialize or our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend to update publicly any forward-looking statements except as required by law. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events discussed in this earnings release may not occur.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release references certain non-GAAP financial measures, including Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted Diluted EPS, Total Value Realized, and Production Costs. We define Adjusted EBITDA as our GAAP net income or loss before interest expense, net; income tax expense or benefit; and depreciation, depletion and amortization; further adjusted to eliminate the impact of stock-based compensation expense; transaction-related, start-up and other non-recurring costs; accretion of asset retirement and environmental obligations; gain or loss on sale or disposal of long-lived assets; write-downs of inventories; tariff rebates; and other income or loss, net. Adjusted Net Income is defined as our GAAP net income or loss excluding the impact of depletion; stock-based compensation expense; transaction-related, start-up and other non-recurring costs; gain on sale or disposal of long-lived assets; write-downs of inventories; tariff rebates; and other income or loss, net; adjusted to give effect to the income tax impact of such adjustments. Adjusted Diluted EPS is defined as GAAP diluted earnings per share (“EPS”) excluding the per share impact, using GAAP diluted weighted-average shares outstanding as the denominator, of depletion; stock-based compensation expense; transaction-related, start-up and other non-recurring costs; gain or loss on sale or disposal of long-lived assets; tariff rebates; and other income or loss, net; adjusted to give effect to the income tax impact of such adjustments. Total Value Realized, which we use to calculate our key performance indicator, realized price per REO MT, is defined as GAAP product sales adjusted for the revenue impact of tariff rebates related to prior period sales. Realized price per REO MT is calculated as the quotient of: (i) our Total Value Realized for a given period and (ii) our REO sales volume for the same period. Production Costs, which we use to calculate our key performance indicator, production cost per REO MT, is defined as our cost of sales (excluding depreciation, depletion and amortization), less stock-based compensation expense included in cost of sales, shipping and freight costs, and costs attributable to certain other sales, for a given period. Production cost per REO MT is calculated as the quotient of: (i) our Production Costs for a given period and (ii) our REO sales volume for the same period.

MP Materials’ management uses Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income, and Adjusted Diluted EPS to compare MP Materials’ performance to that of prior periods for trend analyses and for budgeting and planning purposes. MP Materials believes Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income, and Adjusted Diluted EPS provide useful information to management and investors regarding certain financial and business trends relating to MP Materials’ financial condition and results of operations. MP Materials believes that the use of Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income, and Adjusted Diluted EPS provide an additional tool for investors to use in evaluating projected operating results and trends. MP Materials believes realized price per REO MT, which utilizes the non-GAAP financial measure, Total Value Realized, is an important measure of the market price of the Company’s product. Furthermore, MP Materials believes production cost per REO MT sold, which utilizes the non-GAAP financial measure, Production Costs, is a key indicator of the Company’s production efficiency. MP Materials’ method of determining these non-GAAP measures may be different from other companies’ methods and, therefore, may not be comparable to those used by other companies and MP Materials does not recommend the sole use of these non-GAAP measures to assess its financial performance. Management does not consider non-GAAP measures in isolation or as an alternative or to be superior to financial measures determined in accordance with GAAP. The principal limitation of non-GAAP financial measures is that they exclude significant expenses and income that are required by GAAP to be recorded in MP Materials’ financial statements. In addition, they are subject to inherent limitations as they reflect the exercise of judgments by management about which expense and income are excluded or included in determining these non-GAAP financial measures. In order to compensate for these limitations, management presents reconciliations of such non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures.