MP Materials Corp., a rare earth materials company, is seeing its stock price rise on news of a major commitment from tech giant Apple.

The long-term bull case for the stock rests on the idea that U.S. administrations will aim for rare earth material independence from China, and MP Materials, a company that operates the only rare earth and processing facility, at Mountain Pass in California, , will be a key part of the process.

MP Materials unveiled a multibillion-dollar deal with the U.S. government on Thursday to boost output of rare earth magnets and help loosen China's grip on the materials used to build weapons, electric vehicles and many electronics.

MP Materials (NYSE: MP) is up 50% today after an announcement that the Department of Defense is buying $400 million of preferred stock in the company. This will make the Pentagon the largest shareholder here.

With U.S. stock markets set to open in two hours, Trade Desk Inc. Cl A (TTD) was up 14.3% in pre-market trading, and MP Materials Corp. (MP) was up 7.9%.

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