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Best Steel Stocks to Buy Now (2026)

Top steel stocks in 2026 ranked by overall Zen Rating. "A" Rated stocks have returned an average of +28.50% per year, and are the best steel stocks to buy now. Learn More.

According to Zen Ratings, our proprietary rating system that evaluates 115 factors proven to drive growth in stocks and assigns each stock in our system an overall letter grade as well as 7 individual Component Grades for Value, Growth, Momentum, Sentiment, Safety, Financials, and proprietary AI algorithms, the 3 best steel stocks to buy right now are:

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) is the #1 top steel stock out of 21 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +28.5% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Nucor (NYSE:NUE) is: Value: C, Growth: B, Momentum: A, Sentiment: C, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: B.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) has a Due Diligence Score of 49, which is 18 points higher than the steel industry average of 31.

NUE passed 18 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Nucor has seen its stock return 80.31% over the past year, overperforming other steel stocks by 141 percentage points.

Nucor has an average 1 year price target of $266.90, an upside of 1.11% from Nucor's current stock price of $263.97.

Nucor stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 11 analysts covering Nucor, 54.55% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 9.09% have issued a Buy, 36.36% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Reliance (NYSE:RS) is the #2 top steel stock out of 21 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +17.17% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Reliance (NYSE:RS) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: B, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: B.

Reliance (NYSE:RS) has a Due Diligence Score of 53, which is 22 points higher than the steel industry average of 31.

RS passed 19 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Reliance has seen its stock return 37.83% over the past year, overperforming other steel stocks by 98 percentage points.

Reliance has an average 1 year price target of $389.00, a downside of -2.8% from Reliance's current stock price of $400.21.

Reliance stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 7 analysts covering Reliance, 28.57% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 14.29% have issued a Buy, 57.14% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) is the #3 top steel stock out of 21 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +17.17% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) is: Value: C, Growth: B, Momentum: B, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) has a Due Diligence Score of 56, which is 25 points higher than the steel industry average of 31.

STLD passed 21 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Steel Dynamics has seen its stock return 91.94% over the past year, overperforming other steel stocks by 152 percentage points.

Steel Dynamics has an average 1 year price target of $260.00, an upside of 4.99% from Steel Dynamics's current stock price of $247.64.

Steel Dynamics stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 9 analysts covering Steel Dynamics, 44.44% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 11.11% have issued a Buy, 44.44% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 10 steel stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 steel stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Posco Holdings (NYSE:PKX) has an annual dividend yield of N/A, which is N/A percentage points lower than the steel industry average of 1.36%. Posco Holdings's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. Posco Holdings's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Posco Holdings's dividend payout ratio of 40% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Mesabi Trust (NYSE:MSB) has an annual dividend yield of 3.61%, which is 2 percentage points higher than the steel industry average of 1.36%. Mesabi Trust's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% sixteen times in the last 10 years. Mesabi Trust's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Mesabi Trust's dividend payout ratio of 111.2% indicates that its dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Gerdau Sa (NYSE:GGB) has an annual dividend yield of 1.9%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the steel industry average of 1.36%. Gerdau Sa's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% thirteen times in the last 10 years. Gerdau Sa's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Gerdau Sa's dividend payout ratio of 83.9% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Steel stocks were up 3.54% in the last day, and up 3.43% over the last week. Cleveland Cliffs was the among the top gainers in the steel industry, gaining 7.63% yesterday.

Shares of steel and industrial metal-related companies are trading higher. July's Factor Order data could signal growing demand, and the Beige Book noted increased manufacturing activity across most districts.

Based on the Valuation rating, one of the 7 components of a stocks overall Zen Ratings grade, which evaluates factors including estimated earnings yield, earnings before interest and taxes/enterprise value, cash flow yield, free cash flow to price, and price-to-earnings growth (PEG ratio), the 3 most undervalued steel stocks right now are:

Commercial Metals Co (NYSE:CMC) is the most undervalued steel stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Commercial Metals Co has a valuation score of 29, which is 9 points higher than the steel industry average of 20. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Commercial Metals Co's stock has gained 20.87% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the steel industry by 81 percentage points.

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) is the second most undervalued steel stock based on its Valuation Rating of C. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Worthington Steel has a valuation score of 0, which is -20 points higher than the steel industry average of 20. It passed 0 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Worthington Steel's stock has gained 11.28% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the steel industry by 72 percentage points.

Friedman Industries (NASDAQ:FRD) is the third most undervalued steel stock based on its Valuation Rating of C. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Friedman Industries has a valuation score of 29, which is 9 points higher than the steel industry average of 20. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Friedman Industries's stock has gained 105.95% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the steel industry by 166 percentage points.

50% of steel stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect steel stocks to rise by 2.67% over the next year.

7.69% of steel stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 38.46% of steel stocks are rated B (Buy), 38.46% are rated C (Hold), 15.38% are rated D (Sell), and 0% are rated F (Strong Sell).