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Many fast-growing high-tech industries, such as electric cars, are reliant on the rare earth elements — an economically valuable group of heavy metals that mostly come from China.
Of course, China and the U.S. don't always get along. The two countries have been placing trade restrictions on one another for much of the last decade, and those trade spats could intensify in the near future if they find themselves backing rival countries in the growing Middle Eastern conflict that broke out in early 2026. But one group is already profiting from this predicament: Shareholders of U.S.-listed rare earth stocks.
What are rare earth stocks?
Rare earth stocks are shares of publicly-traded companies involved in the mining and processing of rare earth elements and other strategic metals.
Strictly speaking, the term “rare earth elements” refers to a set of 17 heavy metals whose chemical properties make them useful in advanced technologies such as electric vehicle motors, lasers, large batteries, nuclear reactors and fuel cells. Most of the actual rare earth elements are pretty obscure, though you might have heard of neodymium if you’re really into magnets.
But in common parlance, “rare earth stocks” can also refer to mining companies that produce other valuable metals with high-tech applications, such as lithium, copper and cobalt. These technically aren’t rare earth elements — the more accurate term is “strategic metals” — but in the investing world, they’re often lumped in with the true rare earths due to their similar use cases in advanced manufacturing.
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Top 7 best-performing U.S. rare earth stocks
Below is a table of the best-performing stocks in the WisdomTree Strategic Metals and Rare Earths Miners Index and the MVIS Global Rare Earth/Strategic Metals Index that trade on a major U.S. exchange. They’re listed in order of one-year returns.
The best-performing rare earth stock by one-year return is Hudbay Minerals Inc (HBM), which is up 147.02%. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ticker | Company | Performance (Year) | ||
HBM | Hudbay Minerals Inc | 147.02% | ||
HL | Hecla Mining Co | 144.99% | ||
LAR | Lithium Argentina AG | 128.78% | ||
TGB | Trekor Metals Ltd | 116.56% | ||
SVM | Silvercorp Metals Inc | 111.57% | ||
ERO | Ero Copper Corp | 98.20% | ||
MTRN | Materion Corp | 97.67% | ||
Source: Finviz. Data is current as of August 3, 2026, and is intended for informational purposes only. | ||||
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Why China, tariffs and geopolitics matter for rare earth stocks
Last year, China and the U.S. enacted a series of tit-for-tat rare earth trade restrictions on one another, juicing the price of U.S.-listed rare earth stocks in the process. Now, there's speculation that U.S.-China rare earth trade could be disrupted again due to the two superpowers clashing indirectly in the Middle East.
Back in April 2025, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced that Chinese firms will have to obtain government approval to export seven rare earth elements, citing national security concerns due to the metals’ potential use in military technologies. In October of that year, it added another five rare earth elements to the list and also restricted exports of rare earth element refining equipment.
China mines about 70% of the global supply of rare earth elements. It also accounts for about 60% of global lithium refining capacity and more than 40% of global copper refining capacity.
The export controls are part of a series of retaliatory responses to U.S. trade restrictions. China announced export controls on the original seven rare earth elements in response to President Donald Trump’s sweeping “liberation day” tariffs from spring 2025, and it announced the new controls on five other elements and refining equipment after the U.S. placed new sanctions on several thousand Chinese companies.
Later that year, the U.S. government purchased stakes in MP Materials and Lithium Americas, two U.S. producers of strategic metals, in response to Chinese export controls. As part of those deals, the government promised to purchase all of MP Materials’ output from a new, under-construction facility, and allowed Lithium Americas to delay repayment on several hundred million dollars’ worth of debt. The moves caused both companies' stock prices to spike.
Then, in October 2025, President Trump threatened to impose an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods in response to the newest Chinese export restrictions. But after end-of-year trade talks, the two countries agreed on a temporary "truce" that partially rolled back some of these tariffs and restrictions.
Now, however, China and the U.S. are at odds again over a completely different issue: the emerging war in the Middle East. The U.S. is allied with one side of the war — Israel and the Gulf Arab states — while China has close ties to the other side, Iran. If U.S.-China tensions flare up again over war between their respective Middle Eastern allies, it could be bad news for the U.S.-China rare earth trade (but good news for wholly U.S.-controlled rare earth stocks).
The bottom line on rare earth stocks
Some rare earth stocks have surged in the last year due to strong demand and concerns about Chinese export restrictions. But these stocks can be volatile, in part because they’re often caught in the crossfire of the ongoing U.S.-China trade conflict.
Should they have a place in your portfolio? Maybe. But many financial advisors recommend limiting speculative bets on individual stocks to 10% or less of your overall portfolio, and devoting the rest to diversified investments, such as index funds.
If you want to invest in strategic metals but don’t like the riskiness of individual stocks, exchange-traded funds are an option, such as the VanEck Rare Earth and Strategic Metals ETF (REMX) and the Sprott Critical Materials ETF (SETM). There are also a few ETFs that invest in miners of a specific metal, such as copper or lithium.
It’s also possible to invest in futures contracts on some strategic metals, including copper. But futures trading isn’t for the faint of heart: It can be even riskier than trading individual stocks, and has a steep learning curve for beginners.
More on natural resource investing
Neither the author nor editor owned positions in the aforementioned investments at the time of publication.
