Graphite One Stock Gets a Twin Boost from Washington and Ohio, Yet the Market Remains Lukewarm

White House order and Ohio permit advance Graphite One's graphite plans, but stock remains far below January peak, highlighting market caution.

A White House directive and a state-level regulatory milestone have handed Graphite One two pieces of good news in as many days, but the company’s stock is still trading deep in the red from its January peak. The juxtaposition of policy tailwinds and market skepticism underscores the long road ahead for the junior miner as it tries to build America’s first vertically integrated graphite supply chain.

President Trump signed an executive order on July 20, 2026, titled “Securing America’s Defense Supply Chains,” which tightens restrictions on defense contractors sourcing critical minerals from China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. Starting January 1, 2027, contractors will need to prove they have sought alternative, compliant sources before any exemption can be granted. Senior Counselor Peter Navarro framed the move bluntly, arguing that any supply chain routed through an adversary nation constitutes a strategic vulnerability. The order builds on a Section 232 investigation launched in April 2025 and follows a roughly $2.9 billion funding pledge made in June 2026 to bolster the rare earth and magnet supply chain.

For Graphite One, the timing could hardly be better. The company is developing the Graphite Creek deposit in Alaska, which it describes as the largest known natural graphite resource in the United States. According to USGS data from 2025, the U.S. is 100% dependent on imports for natural graphite, as well as gallium, titanium, niobium, and tantalum. The new decree effectively creates a captive domestic market for any company that can deliver homegrown graphite — and Graphite One is positioning itself as the prime candidate.

CEO Anthony Huston was quick to highlight the alignment, noting that the company is building an integrated U.S. graphite platform. That platform includes not only the Alaska mine, which is being fast-tracked through the FAST-41 permitting process, but also a planned anode material plant in Conneaut, Ohio, and a graphite recycling program. On July 21, 2026, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency confirmed it had accepted the air permit application for the Ohio facility, moving it into the technical review phase. The plant is designed to produce synthetic anode material for lithium-ion batteries — initially 10,000 tonnes per year starting in the fourth quarter of 2027, scaling to 25,000 tonnes by the end of 2028.

Financially, the company has already secured two Letters of Interest from the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. totaling $2.07 billion in potential financing, along with two grants from the U.S. Army. The Defense Department has also approved $37.5 million in grants. These commitments, combined with the FAST-41 designation and the new executive order, give Graphite One a strong policy foundation — even if the market has yet to fully embrace the story.

The stock reaction tells a more cautious tale. On July 22, shares rose 12.11% to €0.5600, recovering from the prior day’s close of €0.4995. In pre-market trading, the stock had been indicated at €0.518, up 3.7%. But the rally only partially offsets a brutal year-to-date decline of roughly 59%. The 52-week high of €1.59, set on January 28, 2026, now sits 64.89% above the current price. The relative strength index of 34.6 suggests the stock is technically oversold, a sign that the sell-off may have been overdone but not yet reversed.

The disconnect between policy progress and stock performance reflects a fundamental reality: Graphite One’s two projects are on very different timelines. The Ohio plant can begin operations independently of the Alaska mine, a strategic decoupling that allows the company to generate revenue from anode material production before the mine comes online. The mine itself, however, is still undergoing a comprehensive environmental impact review, with production not expected until 2029. The management insists the review timeline remains on track, but the gap between the two projects means investors are being asked to wait years for the full payoff.

For now, the next concrete milestone is the Ohio air permit. If approved, it would clear the way for construction to begin. Whether the executive order translates into firm offtake agreements with defense contractors remains an open question, but the policy direction is unmistakable. Graphite One has the political backing, the regulatory fast track, and a growing pile of government financing commitments. What it still needs is a stock price that reflects any of it.