Yesterday, a leading enterprise in the rare earth industry disclosed its 2025 performance forecast, reporting a net profit attributable to shareholders that surged by over 124% year-on-year, significantly surpassing market expectations. As the largest constituent stock by weight in the CSI Rare Earth Industry Index, this company's robust performance not only strongly confirms the ongoing recovery in the industry's prosperity but is also expected to provide a solid boost to the overall valuation of the rare earth sector. Concurrently, on April 10th, two other major core companies within the industry simultaneously raised their associated transaction prices for rare earth concentrates in the second quarter, continuing the previously established upward price trend.

Driven by the dual forces of positive earnings and favorable fundamentals, trading sentiment in the rare earth sector has recently intensified, with market activity seeing a notable increase. The market's first rare earth industry-themed ETF—the Huatai-PineBridge Rare Earth ETF (516780)—has seen its daily turnover exceed the 1 billion yuan mark for five consecutive trading sessions. Its latest fund size has reached 2.982 billion yuan, highlighting its significant liquidity advantage.

The core driver behind the "price surge" in the rare earth sector remains the persistent tightening of the supply-demand dynamic. On the supply side, China, as the dominant global producer of rare earths, continues to implement controls on total mining output and export management. Meanwhile, overseas supply has contracted due to various disruptions, leading to a continuous drawdown of inventories in both domestic and international markets. On the demand side, rapid development in high-growth sectors such as new energy and humanoid robots is steadily increasing the demand for rare earths as critical functional materials. Furthermore, rising resource nationalism amid shifts in the global energy landscape provides medium to long-term support for the price floor of rare earths.

SDIC Securities pointed out that while uncertainties remain during the negotiation phase following the provisional ceasefire between the US and Iran, market expectations have already begun to recover, leading to an uptick in risk appetite. Following the release of US CPI and other data on Friday, market pricing for interest rate cuts within the year has increased, which is expected to benefit precious metals and industrial metals. The floor price for crude oil may have been elevated, potentially catalyzing a second wave of stronger-than-expected demand for new energy. Attention should be paid to the structural opportunities in rare earths and lithium, which have high exposure to new energy demand, as well as strategic metals (tungsten, tantalum) and gold.

It is reported that the Huatai-PineBridge Rare Earth ETF (516780) closely tracks the CSI Rare Earth Industry Index. This index selects listed company securities involved in businesses related to rare earth mining, processing, trading, and application to reflect the overall performance of companies in the rare earth industry. Its top five constituent stocks are China Northern Rare Earth (Group) High-Tech Co., Ltd., Goldwind Science & Technology Co., Ltd., Xiamen Tungsten Co., Ltd., China Rare Earth Group Co., Ltd., and GEM Co., Ltd., all of which are competitive leading enterprises within the sector.

According to the 2025 product annual report, as of December 31, 2025, the number of holders of the Huatai-PineBridge Rare Earth ETF (516780) reached 60,300, making it the only rare earth-themed ETF in the market at that time with over 50,000 holders.

The fund manager of the Huatai-PineBridge Rare Earth ETF (516780) and its feeder funds (Class A 014331 / Class C 014332), Huatai-PineBridge Fund Management Co., Ltd., is one of China's first ETF managers. For years, it has been committed to providing investors with transparent, easily tradable, and low-cost index tool products. Based on the latest annual fund report data, Huatai-PineBridge Fund generated a total profit of 111.14 billion yuan for investors in 2025, making it one of only seven fund companies in the entire market during that period to achieve profits exceeding 100 billion yuan. Its popular product, the Huatai-PineBridge CSI 300 ETF (510300), achieved a fund profit of 78.516 billion yuan in 2025, becoming the only fund product in the entire market during that period to generate profits exceeding 60 billion yuan.