How Long Can MP Materials Keep Burning Cash?
MP Materials (MP) operates two business segments: Materials and Magnetics. During the quarter ended June 2026, the company burned $223 million after covering its operations and paying for buildings and equipment. The mining firm has now spent more cash than it brought in during each of the last four quarters. Take a guess: if MP Materials raised no new money and kept burning cash at this pace, how long would its cash last?
How Fast Is MP Materials Burning Cash?
The cash drain is accelerating. In the quarter ended June 2026, MP Materials burned cash equal to about twice its sales. That compares against about 57% of sales in the same quarter a year earlier. Over the last four quarters, the company burned more than two and a half times as much cash as it did in the four quarters before.
| Quarter ended | Sales | Cash the business brought in | Cash left after spending on buildings and equipment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 2025 | $60.8 million | -$63.2 million | -$93.7 million |
| Jun 2025 | $57.4 million | -$3.65 million | -$32.7 million |
| Sep 2025 | $53.6 million | -$42.0 million | -$92.5 million |
| Dec 2025 | $52.7 million | -$46.9 million | -$109 million |
| Mar 2026 | $90.6 million | -$1.91 million | -$79.3 million |
| Jun 2026 | $108 million | $6.85 million | -$223 million |
Each row is one fiscal quarter. A negative figure is cash going out. The last column is free cash flow.
The total cash burn is growing quickly. Still, operations brought in a little cash before paying for buildings and equipment during the latest quarter. This was the first time that happened since the quarter ended December 2024. All of the cash burn came from spending on buildings and equipment, which was about eight times what MP Materials spent a year earlier.
How Long Would MP Materials’ Cash Last?
MP Materials held $1.45 billion in cash and short-term investments at the end of June 2026. If the company raised nothing and kept burning cash at the latest quarter’s pace, those reserves would last about a year and a half. At the average pace of the last four quarters, the cash would last nearly three years.
Its debt load of $935 million is less than that cash balance. Even so, at either pace, MP Materials has cash for under three years, not many years.
Who Has Paid For The Burn So Far?
Lenders have not footed the bill. MP Materials owed $943 million in June 2024 and $935 million in June 2026. Its debt barely moved, even though the company burned cash in every one of the last eight quarters.
Shareholders have carried some of the cost instead. The diluted share count rose 7.9% over the same two years. Issuing more shares dilutes the equity, leaving each existing share with a smaller piece of the company.
What Has To Change At MP Materials
Sales are heading the right way. Across Materials and Magnetics together, sales grew 89.0% in the quarter ended June 2026 from a year earlier. Yet for the cash burn to shrink, spending on buildings and equipment has to fall, or the business has to bring in far more cash than it does now.
The amount of cash MP Materials burns each quarter, which hit $223 million in the quarter ended June 2026, is the figure to watch in its next report.
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