Sectors & IndustriesBasic Materials

Best Basic Material Stocks to Buy Now (2025)

Top basic material stocks in 2025 ranked by overall Due Diligence Score. See the best basic material stocks to buy now, according to analyst forecasts for the basic materials sector.

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 basic material stocks to buy right now are:

Caledonia Mining (NYSEMKT:CMCL) is the #1 top basic material stock out of 311 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 Caledonia Mining (NYSEMKT:CMCL) is: Value: A, Growth: B, Momentum: A, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Caledonia Mining (NYSEMKT:CMCL) has a Due Diligence Score of 57, which is 27 points higher than the basic material sector average of 30. It passed 21 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Caledonia Mining has seen its stock return 102.3% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 99 percentage points.

Caledonia Mining has an average 1 year price target of $28.00, an upside of 13.91% from Caledonia Mining's current stock price of $24.58.

Caledonia Mining stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 1 analyst covering Caledonia Mining, 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.

Galiano Gold (NYSEMKT:GAU) is the #2 top basic material stock out of 311 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 Galiano Gold (NYSEMKT:GAU) is: Value: B, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: A, Safety: D, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Galiano Gold (NYSEMKT:GAU) has a Due Diligence Score of 24, which is -6 points lower than the basic material sector average of 30. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates GAU as a "A".It passed 8 out of 33 due diligence checks and has weak fundamentals. Galiano Gold has seen its stock return 35.71% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 33 percentage points.

Galiano Gold has an average 1 year price target of $3.00, an upside of 43.54% from Galiano Gold's current stock price of $2.09.

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

Perma Pipe International Holdings (NASDAQ:PPIH) is the #3 top basic material stock out of 311 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 Perma Pipe International Holdings (NASDAQ:PPIH) is: Value: C, Growth: A, Momentum: B, Sentiment: C, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Perma Pipe International Holdings (NASDAQ:PPIH) has a Due Diligence Score of 39, which is 9 points higher than the basic material sector average of 30. It passed 12 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Perma Pipe International Holdings has seen its stock return 224.22% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 221 percentage points.

Out of 111 basic material stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 basic material stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Tronox Holdings (NYSE:TROX) has an annual dividend yield of 13.48%, which is 11 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 2.26%. Tronox Holdings's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% two times in the last 10 years. Tronox Holdings's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Tronox Holdings's dividend payout ratio of -31.4% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Lyondellbasell Industries Nv (NYSE:LYB) has an annual dividend yield of 10.18%, which is 8 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 2.26%. Lyondellbasell Industries Nv's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. Lyondellbasell Industries Nv's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Lyondellbasell Industries Nv's dividend payout ratio of 691% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) has an annual dividend yield of 9.95%, which is 8 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 2.26%. Huntsman's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Huntsman's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Huntsman's dividend payout ratio of -51% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Basic material stocks were down -0.15% in the last day, and up 1.79% over the last week. Alcoa was the among the top losers in the basic materials sector, dropping -5.24% yesterday.

Shares of aluminum stocks are trading lower after the US expanded products subject to aluminum tariffs.

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 basic material stocks right now are:

Caledonia Mining (NYSEMKT:CMCL) is the most undervalued basic material stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Caledonia Mining has a valuation score of 71, which is 48 points higher than the basic material sector average of 23. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Caledonia Mining's stock has gained 102.3% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by 99 percentage points.

Ero Copper (NYSE:ERO) is the second most undervalued basic material stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Ero Copper has a valuation score of 71, which is 48 points higher than the basic material sector average of 23. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Ero Copper's stock has dropped -30.79% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by -34 percentage points.

Fortuna Mining (NYSE:FSM) is the third most undervalued basic material stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Fortuna Mining has a valuation score of 43, which is 20 points higher than the basic material sector average of 23. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Fortuna Mining's stock has gained 50.31% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by 47 percentage points.

47.42% of basic material stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect basic material stocks to rise by 11.63% over the next year.

4.87% of basic material stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 12.36% of basic material stocks are rated B (Buy), 55.81% are rated C (Hold), 17.98% are rated D (Sell), and 8.99% are rated F (Strong Sell).