Shares of USA Rare Earth (USAR) and The Metals Company (TMC) just jumped after a sharp two-week drop. This bounce was brought about by a massive market rally in the U.S. Investor confidence jumped after President Trump announced a major peace deal that includes Iran and Lebanon. The news sent the S&P 500 up 1.3% and the Nasdaq climbing 1.8%, reviving Wall Street’s appetite for high-risk growth stocks.

Technical Bounces Meet Long-Term Skeptics

Buyers reared a lot of speculative mining assets, and both companies benefitted.

• USA Rare Earth (USAR): When the stock lurched up to technical support shortly after $20, it jumped about 11%. It was recently bearing huge profit taking activities near the resistance price level of $32.
• The Metals Company (TMC): After a downward drift toward $4.80, buyers rallied it back up past the price but it got stymied by one of the key moving averages in the way.

Although the excitement around it is getting investors short-term, the investors are still bold. These companies have critical and vital businesses, but it takes them a long time to earn consistent rewards for shareholders.

USAR Outperforms Expectations but Rewards Take Time

During a financial update in Q1 2026, USA Rare Earth exceeded expectations with a total revenue of $5.70 million compared to the $4.23 million estimate. The company reported a normalized loss of $0.12 per share and consolidated its Round Top project and secured a much needed $1.5 billion PIPE financing.

Also, to minimize China’s dependence on supply chains, USAR announced a $2.8 billion contract to buy Brazil’s Serra Verde Group. But analysts say steady net profit is unlikely to come before 2028, while positive cash flow is expected in 2029.

TMC Navigates the Deep-Sea Horizon

The Metals Company has been awaiting a similar opportunity. As a pre-commercial venture harvesting seafloor nodules for EV batteries, TMC reported zero revenue and a Q1 net loss of $20.6 million.

The good news is that after negative $9.4 million last year, the free cash flow increased to minus $0.6 million. With combined liquidity of $164m, TMC has a cash margin to follow environmental and regulatory requirements. However, true profitability stays on hold until commercial deep-sea harvesting gets the green light.