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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:

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) is the #1 top steel stock out of 22 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 Nucor (NYSE:NUE) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: B, Sentiment: C, Safety: B, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) has a Due Diligence Score of 43, which is 16 points higher than the steel industry average of 27.

NUE passed 16 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Nucor has seen its stock return 88.81% over the past year, overperforming other steel stocks by 64 percentage points.

Nucor has an average 1 year price target of $219.63, a downside of -2.84% from Nucor's current stock price of $226.04.

Nucor stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 8 analysts covering Nucor, 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 #2 top steel stock out of 22 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: C, Growth: A, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Friedman Industries (NASDAQ:FRD) has a Due Diligence Score of 40, which is 13 points higher than the steel industry average of 27.

FRD passed 15 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Friedman Industries has seen its stock return 19.32% over the past year, underperforming other steel stocks by -5 percentage points.

Reliance (NYSE:RS) is the #3 top steel stock out of 22 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 Reliance (NYSE:RS) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: B.

Reliance (NYSE:RS) has a Due Diligence Score of 41, which is 14 points higher than the steel industry average of 27.

RS passed 14 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Reliance has seen its stock return 26.02% over the past year, overperforming other steel stocks by 2 percentage points.

Reliance has an average 1 year price target of $358.00, a downside of -2.15% from Reliance's current stock price of $365.85.

Reliance stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 6 analysts covering Reliance, 16.67% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 16.67% have issued a Buy, 66.67% 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:

Mesabi Trust (NYSE:MSB) has an annual dividend yield of 3.42%, which is 2 percentage points higher than the steel industry average of 1.14%. 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 121.1% indicates that its dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Reliance (NYSE:RS) has an annual dividend yield of 1.33%, which is the same as the steel industry average of 1.14%. 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 31.4% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) has an annual dividend yield of 1.23%, which is the same as the steel industry average of 1.14%.

Worthington Steel's dividend payout ratio of 26.1% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Steel stocks were up 0.38% in the last day, and up 3% 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:

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 13 points higher than the steel industry average of 16. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Commercial Metals Co's stock has gained 51.4% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the steel industry by 27 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 27 points higher than the steel industry average of 16. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Arcelormittal's stock has gained 91.41% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the steel industry by 67 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 43, which is 27 points higher than the steel industry average of 16. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Friedman Industries's stock has gained 19.32% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the steel industry by -5 percentage points.

44.44% of steel stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect steel stocks to fall by -0.09% over the next year.

0% of steel stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 35.71% of steel stocks are rated B (Buy), 57.14% are rated C (Hold), 0% are rated D (Sell), and 7.14% are rated F (Strong Sell).