I'm Thinking About Pulling the Trigger on This Producer of a Mineral Deemed "Critical" to the U.S.

For decades, the world was heavily reliant on China for rare-earth elements and other critical materials that U.S. companies need, meaning China could control output and pricing to suit its aims. But with a growing awareness of how these elements are essential components in a variety of military equipment and high-tech gear, Western nations are waking up to the fact that they need to source the materials from places other than China.

This has ushered in renewed investor interest in materials stocks, including United States Antimony (NYSE: UAMY). First, the elephant in the room needs to be addressed. This stock sits 57% below its 52-week high as I write this, and is down 17% over the past month. Many investors interpret those drops as signs of a falling knife, not invitations to get involved, but the stock's recent weakness may spell opportunity for risk-tolerant market participants.

United States Antimony is a volatile stock, but it has rebound potential. Image source: Getty Images.

U.S. Antimony has enviable positioning

Another elephant in the room that needs to be addressed: U.S. Antimony's first-quarter results stunk up the joint. Revenue declined, and the company posted a loss after notching a profit in the year-ago period. CEO Gary Evans noted that there will be bumps along the way as a business builds at the rapid pace U.S. Antimony is.

The urgency behind U.S. Antimony's scaling makes sense. Uncle Sam classifies antimony as a "critical" mineral. China is the world's largest producer. It's potentially problematic that the U.S. consumes over 50 million pounds of the mineral per year, while importing 90% of that amount.

U.S. Antimony is attempting to make the U.S. less dependent on imports of its namesake mineral, and the government sees value in those efforts. The company landed a sole-source contract from the federal government worth as much as $245 million, with an initial $10 million order revealed last September. The company had $39 million in revenue in 2025.

The bull thesis is solidified by the fact that, among other applications, antimony is crucial in the production of munitions and semiconductors. Focusing on the former: A reason aggressive investors should consider the stock is that the U.S. has depleted significant portions of its weapons stockpiles recently, suggesting a credible rearmament cycle is likely to boost demand for antimony. Best of all, it'll be the government footing that bill. That may be a sign of long-term support for antimony spending and the possibility of revenue clarity for U.S. Antimony.

More than just antimony

From an investing perspective, antimony is the attention-grabber, but investors considering U.S. Antimony shouldn't sleep on the clinoptilolite zeolite side of the business. That mineral is essential to end markets such as agriculture, animal feed, environmental cleanup, healthcare, and water filtration, among others.

Bottom line: U.S. Antimony has me interested and considering a roll of the dice on the stock.

Todd Shriber has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.