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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 +32.52% 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:

Commercial Metals Co (NYSE:CMC) is the #1 top steel stock out of 23 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +32.52% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Commercial Metals Co (NYSE:CMC) is: Value: B, Growth: B, Momentum: B, Sentiment: C, Safety: A, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Commercial Metals Co (NYSE:CMC) has a Due Diligence Score of 52, which is 22 points higher than the steel industry average of 30.

CMC passed 19 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Commercial Metals Co has seen its stock return 63.33% over the past year, overperforming other steel stocks by 42 percentage points.

Commercial Metals Co has an average 1 year price target of $75.88, a downside of -8.55% from Commercial Metals Co's current stock price of $82.97.

Commercial Metals Co stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 8 analysts covering Commercial Metals Co, 87.5% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 12.5% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) is the #2 top steel stock out of 23 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +32.52% 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 49, which is 19 points higher than the steel industry average of 30.

STLD passed 18 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Steel Dynamics has seen its stock return 52.59% over the past year, overperforming other steel stocks by 31 percentage points.

Steel Dynamics has an average 1 year price target of $180.13, a downside of -11.16% from Steel Dynamics's current stock price of $202.75.

Steel Dynamics stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 8 analysts covering Steel Dynamics, 50% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 12.5% have issued a Buy, 37.5% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Friedman Industries (NASDAQ:FRD) is the #3 top steel stock out of 23 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +19.88% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Friedman Industries (NASDAQ:FRD) is: Value: B, Growth: A, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: B.

Friedman Industries (NASDAQ:FRD) has a Due Diligence Score of 38, which is 8 points higher than the steel industry average of 30.

FRD passed 14 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Friedman Industries has seen its stock return 17.56% over the past year, underperforming other steel stocks by -4 percentage points.

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 3.58%, which is 2 percentage points higher than the steel industry average of 1.33%. 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 shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Mesabi Trust's dividend payout ratio of 531.5% indicates that its dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Reliance (NYSE:RS) has an annual dividend yield of 1.36%, which is the same as the steel industry average of 1.33%. Reliance's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Reliance's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Reliance's dividend payout ratio of 34% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Olympic Steel (NASDAQ:ZEUS) has an annual dividend yield of 1.29%, which is the same as the steel industry average of 1.33%. Olympic Steel's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Olympic Steel's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Olympic Steel's dividend payout ratio of 53.8% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Steel stocks were down -0.14% in the last day, and up 5.77% over the last week. Cleveland Cliffs was the among the top losers in the steel industry, dropping -16.43% yesterday.

Cleveland-Cliffs shares are trading lower after the company reported mixed Q4 financial results.

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 43, which is 14 points higher than the steel industry average of 29. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Commercial Metals Co's stock has gained 63.33% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the steel industry by 42 percentage points.

Arcelormittal (NYSE:MT) 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.

Arcelormittal has a valuation score of 43, which is 14 points higher than the steel industry average of 29. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Arcelormittal's stock has gained 120.77% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the steel industry by 99 percentage points.

Friedman Industries (NASDAQ:FRD) is the third 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.

Friedman Industries has a valuation score of 43, which is 14 points higher than the steel industry average of 29. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Friedman Industries's stock has gained 17.56% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the steel industry by -4 percentage points.

44.44% of steel stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect steel stocks to fall by -9.27% over the next year.

13.33% of steel stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 26.67% of steel stocks are rated B (Buy), 53.33% are rated C (Hold), 6.67% are rated D (Sell), and 0% are rated F (Strong Sell).