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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: B, Sentiment: C, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: B.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) has a Due Diligence Score of 46, which is 16 points higher than the steel industry average of 30.

NUE passed 17 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Nucor has seen its stock return 85.63% over the past year, overperforming other steel stocks by 100 percentage points.

Nucor has an average 1 year price target of $281.73, an upside of 9.57% from Nucor's current stock price of $257.11.

Nucor stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 11 analysts covering Nucor, 63.64% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 9.09% have issued a Buy, 27.27% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Gerdau Sa (NYSE:GGB) 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 Gerdau Sa (NYSE:GGB) is: Value: B, Growth: B, Momentum: B, Sentiment: D, Safety: B, Financials: C, and AI: A.

Gerdau Sa (NYSE:GGB) has a Due Diligence Score of 33, which is 3 points higher than the steel industry average of 30.

GGB passed 11 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Gerdau Sa has seen its stock return 60.06% over the past year, overperforming other steel stocks by 74 percentage points.

Gerdau Sa has an average 1 year price target of $6.30, an upside of 21.86% from Gerdau Sa's current stock price of $5.17.

Gerdau Sa stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 2 analysts covering Gerdau Sa, 100% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Reliance (NYSE:RS) 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 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 50, which is 20 points higher than the steel industry average of 30.

RS passed 18 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Reliance has seen its stock return 47.47% over the past year, overperforming other steel stocks by 61 percentage points.

Reliance has an average 1 year price target of $401.25, a downside of -1.43% from Reliance's current stock price of $407.07.

Reliance stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 8 analysts covering Reliance, 25% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 12.5% have issued a Buy, 62.5% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 9 steel stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 steel stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Mesabi Trust (NYSE:MSB) has an annual dividend yield of 4.93%, which is 3 percentage points higher than the steel industry average of 1.51%. 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 180.1% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Gerdau Sa (NYSE:GGB) has an annual dividend yield of 1.82%, which is the same as the steel industry average of 1.51%. 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.

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) has an annual dividend yield of 1.65%, which is the same as the steel industry average of 1.51%.

Worthington Steel's dividend payout ratio of -83.1% indicates that its dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Steel stocks were up 0.52% in the last day, and up 2.78% over the last week.

We couldn't find a catalyst for why steel stocks are up.

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:

Gerdau Sa (NYSE:GGB) 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.

Gerdau Sa has a valuation score of 29, which is 11 points higher than the steel industry average of 18. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Gerdau Sa's stock has gained 60.06% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the steel industry by 74 percentage points.

Commercial Metals Co (NYSE:CMC) is the second 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 11 points higher than the steel industry average of 18. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Commercial Metals Co's stock has gained 8.04% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the steel industry by 22 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 11 points higher than the steel industry average of 18. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Friedman Industries's stock has gained 106.34% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the steel industry by 120 percentage points.

60% of steel stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect steel stocks to rise by 6.73% over the next year.

6.67% of steel stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 40% of steel stocks are rated B (Buy), 33.33% are rated C (Hold), 13.33% are rated D (Sell), and 6.67% are rated F (Strong Sell).