As of 10:17 a.m. ET on Friday, shares of MP Materials stock had climbed 6.5%.

On Thursday, the United States Department of Defense (DOD) entered a major deal with MP Materials. The DOD agreed to buy $400 million of MP Materials newly created preferred shares stock. The move will make the U.S. military the company’s largest stakeholder. In the hours after the deal, the company’s stock surged more than 50%.

MP Materials unveiled a multibillion-dollar deal with the U.S. government on Thursday to boost output of rare earth magnets and help loosen China's grip on the materials used to build weapons, electric vehicles and many electronics.

The Department of Defense struck agreements with MP Materials to accelerate the build-out of the country’s rare earth magnet supply chain and reduce foreign dependency, the company announced Thursday.

The Defense Department on Thursday became the largest shareholder in MP Materials, which owns the only rare earth mine in the U.S., amid a surge in demand for rare earths mined in the U.S. as China has curbed its rare earth exports amid a trade war with the U.S.