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Rani Molla

MP Materials soars again on Apple investment

MP Materials is up 11% premarket after a report that Apple plans to invest $500 million in the operator of the only US rare earths mine as part of its $500 billion US expansion. Aptly named US rare earth supplier USA Rare Earth is also up nearly 8% in early trading. The news comes just a week after US government announced plans for a large stake in MP Materials.

“With this multiyear deal, Apple is committed to buying American-made rare earth magnets developed at MP Materials’ flagship Independence facility in Fort Worth, Texas,” Apple said in a statement. “The two companies will also work together to establish a cutting-edge rare earth recycling line in Mountain Pass, California, and develop novel magnet materials and innovative processing technologies to enhance magnet performance.”

The recycling facility will allow MP Materials to reprocess material from pre-owned electronics and postindustrial scrap for use in Apple products.

Go Deeper: Why China’s metals embargo could be good news for USA Rare Earth

“With this multiyear deal, Apple is committed to buying American-made rare earth magnets developed at MP Materials’ flagship Independence facility in Fort Worth, Texas,” Apple said in a statement. “The two companies will also work together to establish a cutting-edge rare earth recycling line in Mountain Pass, California, and develop novel magnet materials and innovative processing technologies to enhance magnet performance.”

The recycling facility will allow MP Materials to reprocess material from pre-owned electronics and postindustrial scrap for use in Apple products.

Go Deeper: Why China’s metals embargo could be good news for USA Rare Earth

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The Trade Desk jumps on reported deal talks to help OpenAI sell ads

The Trade Desk rose double-digits in premarket trading on Thursday, up more than 16.5% at 5 a.m. ET, after The Information reported that OpenAI has held early partnership talks with the company to help the ChatGPT maker sell ads going forward.

Per the report, OpenAI will initially use external partners to sell ads and scale up its business, having launched ads on ChatGPT just last month. The Trade Desk, which offers an automated platform for advertisers to place ads on a large scale, will apparently be one of those partners. Will Doherty, The Trade Desk’s senior VP of inventory development, oversees partnerships with the platforms and companies where businesses place ads, and is involved in the OpenAI talks, per one of The Information’s sources.

Sam Altman’s company is reportedly planning to bring ad tech functions in-house eventually, including automating sales and offering performance information to advertisers.

Per The Information, OpenAI has projected that the new emphasis on ads could help double revenues from its consumer business to $17 billion, as it looks for different ways to monetize its platform’s ~910 million users. With that in mind, OpenAI has already explored partnerships with retailers like Target, which offers ad services, and has also recently announced a technology partnership with ad tech veteran Criteo.

The partnership arrives as a huge boon for TTD, after revenue growth slowed in the last fiscal year, with shares down more than 30% so far in 2026 before today’s early jump.

Per the report, OpenAI will initially use external partners to sell ads and scale up its business, having launched ads on ChatGPT just last month. The Trade Desk, which offers an automated platform for advertisers to place ads on a large scale, will apparently be one of those partners. Will Doherty, The Trade Desk’s senior VP of inventory development, oversees partnerships with the platforms and companies where businesses place ads, and is involved in the OpenAI talks, per one of The Information’s sources.

Sam Altman’s company is reportedly planning to bring ad tech functions in-house eventually, including automating sales and offering performance information to advertisers.

Per The Information, OpenAI has projected that the new emphasis on ads could help double revenues from its consumer business to $17 billion, as it looks for different ways to monetize its platform’s ~910 million users. With that in mind, OpenAI has already explored partnerships with retailers like Target, which offers ad services, and has also recently announced a technology partnership with ad tech veteran Criteo.

The partnership arrives as a huge boon for TTD, after revenue growth slowed in the last fiscal year, with shares down more than 30% so far in 2026 before today’s early jump.

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American Eagle posts stronger-than-expected Q4 earnings and revenue

If American Eagle has seen farther, it is by standing on the shoulders of Sydney Sweeney.

The jeans seller posted adjusted earnings of $0.84 per share, ahead of the $0.71 expected by analysts polled by FactSet. It booked $1.76 billion in fourth-quarter revenue, versus the $1.74 billion consensus.

Shares initially climbed more than 5% after-hours before paring gains to about 2%.

“Compelling new product collections, supported by fresh marketing campaigns, led to higher demand trends in the quarter,” said CEO Jay Schottenstein.

American Eagle said it’s expecting same-store sales to grow by high single digits in the first quarter.

Marketing controversy has proved to be a powerful mover of denim for AE. In its third-quarter earnings call in December, AE said its partnership with Sydney Sweeney — together with a Travis Kelce partnership — had garnered more than 44 billion impressions. The retailer hit meme stock status last July when it initially launched its “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans” campaign.

As of Wednesday’s close, American Eagle shares had climbed 120% since the Sweeney ad first landed.

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