Been digging into $IPX after the brutal drop. Trying to understand if this is just momentum unwinding or something fundamentally wrong.
IperionX is building a domestic U.S. titanium supply chain; producing titanium metal from minerals and recycled scrap. Titanium is critical for aerospace, defense, EVs and additive manufacturing.
The U.S. Department of Defense awarded them up to $47.1M to scale titanium production and strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base.
The company is scaling a Titanium Manufacturing Campus in Virginia
Recently the U.S. government even transferred \~290 tons of titanium scrap to them for free, roughly 1.5 years of feedstock.
Titanium is considered a strategic material for military systems, aircraft, and advanced manufacturing.
So the thesis seems clear:
U.S. wants domestic critical metals, and IPX is trying to build that supply chain.
But the flip side:
Still early stage
Not fully scaled yet
Valuation ran hard before this drop
A 40% dump in 3 days feels extreme for a company with actual DoD funding.
Curious what others think.
Is $IPX a strategic materials play or just another small-cap that ran too hot?