Ticker Reports for March 16th
3 Rare Earth Stocks Quietly Building the Next Supply Chain
Renewed geopolitical tensions and the global race for critical minerals are bringing rare earth stocks back into focus. In a recent conversation with Dylan Jovine of Behind the Markets, attention turned to how the United States and its allies are attempting to rebuild domestic supply chains for materials that power everything from AI infrastructure to advanced weapons systems.
Jovine argues the rare earth story is far bigger than most investors realize. These materials are critical to national security, energy independence and the global technology race. As governments look to reduce reliance on China for key minerals and processing capacity, companies positioned across the rare earth supply chain could see renewed investor interest.
Three companies stood out in the discussion, each targeting a different part of the rare earth ecosystem: processing, mining and emerging resource extraction.
The Geopolitics Behind the Rare Earth Boom
Asked about the broader drivers behind renewed interest in the sector, Jovine pointed to an increasingly complex global power struggle between the United States and China.
“There are two chess boards that are at play here,” Jovine said. “There’s the Middle East chessboard, but there’s also a bigger global chessboard where the two players are the United States and China.”
Rare earth minerals have become a central piece of that global contest. While the materials themselves are relatively abundant, processing them into usable components remains heavily concentrated in China.
That imbalance has forced Western governments to rethink supply chains. Jovine emphasized that the issue extends well beyond electric vehicles or consumer electronics.
“A lot of folks don’t know that every F-35 fighter jet carries about 920 pounds of rare earths in it,” Jovine explained. “This is about national security, AI development and a whole bunch of industries we depend on.”
As a result, policymakers are increasingly focused on reshoring both mining and processing capabilities.
A Rare Earth Processing Opportunity
One company that caught Jovine’s attention is Solvay (OTC: SLVYY), a European chemical firm with growing importance in rare earth processing.
Processing is often the overlooked piece of the supply chain. Mining may receive most of the attention, but turning raw materials into usable components requires specialized chemical expertise.
Solvay has quietly built a position in this niche. The company processes key rare earth elements used in magnets and defense technologies, including neodymium and praseodymium. These materials are essential for advanced manufacturing, military systems and electric motors.
Despite its strategic importance, Jovine noted the stock trades at a relatively modest valuation.
“It’s selling for roughly eight to ten times normalized cash flow,” he said. “And the company generates a lot of free cash flow that it pays out to shareholders.”
With a dividend yield near 9% and a market capitalization around $3 billion, the stock represents what Jovine described as a rare value opportunity within the sector.
As Western governments push to rebuild processing capacity outside China, companies like Solvay could see growing demand for their capabilities.
A Gold Miner With a Critical Minerals Twist
The second company discussed was Perpetua Resources (NASDAQ: PPTA), which is developing the Stibnite Gold Project in Idaho.
At first glance, Perpetua appears to be a conventional gold mining company. But Jovine highlighted a unique factor that makes the story more compelling.
The project also produces antimony, a critical mineral used in military applications, batteries and advanced materials.
Because the antimony is extracted alongside gold, it dramatically improves the project’s economics.
The company’s all-in sustaining cost (AISC) for gold production is estimated at roughly $435 per ounce, placing it among the lowest-cost producers globally. “That makes it one of the most efficient miners in the world,” Jovine said.
The ability to produce both gold and antimony creates a powerful combination. As governments search for secure sources of critical minerals, Perpetua’s dual-resource project could attract strategic interest.
Mining Critical Metals From the Ocean Floor
The final company highlighted in the conversation was The Metals Company (NASDAQ: TMC), which is developing technology to harvest polymetallic nodules from the ocean floor.
These potato-shaped rocks contain high concentrations of nickel, copper, cobalt and manganese—all metals essential for batteries, energy infrastructure and defense technologies.
The company has spent years developing systems capable of retrieving these nodules from deep-sea environments.
“They’ve actually proven they can mine this kind of material under the ocean,” Jovine noted.
The real catalyst for investors could come from the regulatory side. Mining projects depend heavily on permits and government approvals, and recent signals from policymakers have been encouraging.
“In mining, these stories are really permitting stories,” Jovine said.
If approvals move forward, the company could gain access to vast undersea deposits that remain largely untapped.
A Supply Chain Story Investors Should Watch
Taken together, the three companies illustrate how broad the rare earth opportunity has become.
Some firms are focused on mining new sources of critical materials. Others specialize in processing and refining them into usable components. Still others are exploring entirely new resource frontiers.
What unites them is a growing geopolitical push to rebuild secure supply chains.
As Jovine put it, the shift is inevitable.
“This is just a massive wave as rare earth production gets reshored,” he said.
For investors, the challenge may not be identifying the trend—but finding companies positioned early enough to benefit from it.
Iran just changed everything for gold
Iran just changed everything for gold
Berkshire, Broadcom & Nucor Are Reving Their Buyback Engines
Two stocks with market capitalizations over $1 trillion and North America’s top dog in steel production just made significant buyback announcements. All three of these companies are indicating confidence in their outlooks going forward, with the world’s largest financial services stock clearly believing that investors are undervaluing it.
Berkshire Announces Resumption of Buybacks After Almost Two-Year Hiatus
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.B) is one of the most renowned investment firms of all time. Additionally, it is one of just 12 companies in the world with a market capitalization exceeding $1 trillion. It also stands alone as the only financial services firm that can claim a spot in the $1 trillion club.
Despite the company’s historic success, things have been a bit rough lately. Shares have dropped following the company’s past four earnings reports, including a nearly 5% fall after its latest release.
This came as the company missed estimates significantly, with operating earnings dropping 30%. This was largely due to weakness in Berkshire’s insurance business, where underwriting earnings fell by 54%.
Overall, during the past 52 weeks, Berkshire shares have been flat to slightly down.
Unlike most other companies, Berkshire doesn’t explicitly announce share buyback authorizations tied to a specific dollar figure. A 2018 amendment to its buyback policy allows it to make repurchases at any time when it believes shares are “below Berkshire’s intrinsic value, conservatively determined.”
The company evidently believes this to be the case in early 2026. In a recent SEC filing, the firm said: “We are disclosing that we commenced repurchasing shares of our common stock under this policy on Wednesday, March 4, 2026." The extent of these repurchases is unknown at this time, but Berkshire is clearly indicating that it sees value in its shares. Notably, the firm had not repurchased stock since mid-2024.
AVGO Undertakes Huge Buyback Spending and Reloads Its Chest
Semiconductor behemoth Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO), another member of the $1 trillion club, is also restarting its buyback engine. Broadcom’s business is putting up very strong results, driven by demand for its artificial intelligence (AI) solutions.
In its latest quarter, the company beat estimates on both sales and adjusted earnings per share and provided much better-than-expected guidance for next quarter. The company also said it sees a path to generating over $100 billion in AI revenue during its fiscal year 2027, which roughly lines up with the 2027 calendar year.
For reference, that would be 46% more than the $68.3 billion in total revenue the firm generated over the last 12 months. That $100 billion figure doesn’t include non-AI semiconductor sales or Broadcom’s infrastructure software, which together accounted for 56% of total revenue last quarter.
Despite this, Broadcom shares are down approximately 20% from their all-time high.
The company’s buyback actions point to the idea that Broadcom believes the market undervalues it. Last quarter, Broadcom spent $7.8 billion on buybacks, its second-highest quarterly spending ever. This comes as the firm had not made any significant repurchases over the previous two quarters.
The company followed this up by announcing a $10 billion repurchase authorization. While this is equal to less than 1% of the firm’s massive +$1.5 trillion market capitalization, it is a signal of confidence nonetheless. Notably, the repurchase program is only effective through the end of 2026. This short timeframe suggests that Broadcom wants to take advantage of the weakness in its share price by repurchasing stock at a relatively quick pace.
NUE’s Buyback Capacity Exceeds 10% as Shares Put Up Impressive Gains
Last up is Nucor (NYSE: NUE), a giant in the North American steel production industry. Based on 2024 data, Nucor produced the most steel of any North American company. However, firms located in Asia dominate the industry, putting Nucor outside of the top 10 in worldwide steel production. Nucor stock has done well over the past 52 weeks, delivering a total return of about 25%.
Several key factors have benefited Nucor. First off, steel tariffs have reduced U.S. imports from foreign competitors, supporting domestic demand for the company’s products.
Nucor notes that the foreign share of the U.S. finished steel market stood near 25% at the beginning of 2025. By November of 2025, it is estimated that this percentage fell to 14%. In 2026, Nucor expects this percentage to hold steady or trend lower.
Demand from the company’s primary end markets, including infrastructure, data centers, and energy, is also strong.
These factors helped Nucor enter 2026 with what it calls “historically strong backlogs." Its steel mill backlog rose 40% year over year, and its steel products backlog rose 15%.
As it benefits from both supply and demand dynamics, Nucor recently announced a $4 billion share buyback program. This new program is hefty, being equal to almost 11% of the company’s approximately $37 billion market capitalization. This gives the firm the ability to return substantial capital to shareholders over time.
AVGO’s Buybacks Signal Undervaluation as AI Demand Explodes
Among this group, Broadcom’s recent spike in buyback activity and its new authorization stand out. It's likely that the firm doesn’t believe its results and outlook align with the large drawdown in its stock price. These are two confidence-inspiring moves for a company that is at the heart of the AI infrastructure buildout.
Elon Musk's $1 Quadrillion AI IPO
Elon Musk's $1 Quadrillion AI IPO
The S&P 500's 3 Best-Performing Stocks so far in 2026
Fear is dominating global markets right now. With geopolitical tensions intensifying in the Middle East and capital rotating out of equities, the S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA: SPY) is down about 2% year to date (YTD). What began as weakness in mega-cap technology and software has since spilled over into virtually every corner of the market, with most sector ETFs now trading below support and key short to mid-term moving averages.
Yet despite the broad-based selling pressure, a handful of names continue to buck the trend entirely. The S&P 500's three best-performing stocks in 2026 are not only holding their ground, but they're also thriving. And notably, each operates in a completely different sector, making their collective outperformance all the more striking.
Sandisk Corporation: YTD Return +159%
Leading the pack is SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK), which also claimed the title of the S&P 500's top performer in 2025, finishing the year up nearly 570%. The company develops and manufactures data storage solutions built on NAND flash technology. This segment has become increasingly critical to AI workloads across data centers, mobile devices, and edge computing.
The rally has been fueled by a near-perfect storm: a global NAND flash shortage colliding with rapidly accelerating demand for fast, local storage tied to the rise of AI at the edge.
As a pure-play flash provider, SanDisk was uniquely positioned to benefit from soaring prices, which roughly doubled during the second half of last year. That leverage was evident in the most recent numbers.
In Q2 2026 earnings released on Jan. 29, Sandisk reported earnings per share (EPS) of $6.20, beating the consensus estimate of $3.31 by $2.89, with quarterly revenue rising 61.2% year over year to $3.03 billion.
What's particularly notable is that while the broader market has sold off in recent weeks, SNDK remains in a lengthy bull flag, consolidating just 14% from its all-time high and well above its 50-day SMA. A 10% gain in February underscores that its outperformance may be far from over.
Texas Pacific Land Corporation: YTD Return +84%
In second place is Texas Pacific Land Corporation (NYSE: TPL), one of the largest landowners in Texas with 882,000 acres in the Permian Basin. The company's core business spans surface rights management, mineral royalty interests, and water services. But its AI infrastructure ambitions have been a major driver of its 2026 outperformance.
TPL entered a strategic partnership with Bolt Data & Energy, committing $50 million in exchange for equity, warrants, and a right of first refusal to supply water to Bolt's projects.
Bolt has expressed ambitions to develop over 10 gigawatts of data centers on TPL land in West Texas, a vision that has captured investor imagination and sent the stock sharply higher. Rising oil prices and surging demand for its water services have added further fuel.
Management guided capital expenditures of $65 million to $75 million for the year, with continued investment in water management and desalination technologies as part of a long-term vision to build multiple multi-gigawatt energy campuses. Analysts see further room to run, with a consensus price target of $639, implying nearly 20% additional upside.
Moderna: YTD Return +81%
Rounding out the top three is perhaps a surprising name: Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA).
The stock is up over 80% year to date, while the broader healthcare sector, represented by the Health Care Select SPDR Fund ETF (NYSEARCA: XLV), is down 3%. The rally has been driven by growing investor optimism around the company's evolution beyond its COVID-focused roots into a more diversified pipeline, particularly in oncology and influenza.
That said, Wall Street remains cautious. Analysts hold a consensus Reduce rating on the stock, with a price target implying nearly 40% downside from current levels.
Institutional activity over the prior 12 months has been broadly neutral, with $1.6 billion in inflows versus $1.2 billion in outflows.
Elon Musk: This Could Turn $100 into $100,000
Elon Musk: This Could Turn $100 into $100,000
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