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:

Arlo Technologies (NYSE:ARLO) is the #1 top basic material stock out of 308 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 Arlo Technologies (NYSE:ARLO) is: Value: C, Growth: A, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: B.

Arlo Technologies (NYSE:ARLO) has a Due Diligence Score of 43, which is 12 points higher than the basic material sector average of 31. It passed 14 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Arlo Technologies has seen its stock return 15.67% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 24 percentage points.

Arlo Technologies has an average 1 year price target of $24.00, an upside of 70.21% from Arlo Technologies's current stock price of $14.10.

Arlo Technologies stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 2 analysts covering Arlo Technologies, 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.

Cvr Partners (NYSE:UAN) is the #2 top basic material stock out of 308 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 Cvr Partners (NYSE:UAN) is: Value: A, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Cvr Partners (NYSE:UAN) has a Due Diligence Score of 53, which is 22 points higher than the basic material sector average of 31. It passed 19 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Cvr Partners has seen its stock return 32.5% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 40 percentage points.

Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) is the #3 top basic material stock out of 308 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 Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) is: Value: C, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: A, Safety: A, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) has a Due Diligence Score of 50, which is 19 points higher than the basic material sector average of 31. It passed 18 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Kaiser Aluminum has seen its stock return 13.6% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 22 percentage points.

Kaiser Aluminum has an average 1 year price target of $106.50, an upside of 11.91% from Kaiser Aluminum's current stock price of $95.17.

Kaiser Aluminum stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 2 analysts covering Kaiser Aluminum, 50% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 50% have issued a Hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 106 basic material stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 basic material stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Cementos Pacasmayo Saa (NYSE:CPAC) has an annual dividend yield of N/A, which is N/A percentage points lower than the basic material sector average of 2.27%. Cementos Pacasmayo Saa's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% two times in the last 10 years. Cementos Pacasmayo Saa's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Cementos Pacasmayo Saa's dividend payout ratio of 72.1% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Fmc (NYSE:FMC) has an annual dividend yield of 17.29%, which is 15 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 2.27%. Fmc's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Fmc's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Fmc's dividend payout ratio of -54.8% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Cvr Partners (NYSE:UAN) has an annual dividend yield of 12.61%, which is 10 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 2.27%. Cvr Partners's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% nine times in the last 10 years. Cvr Partners's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Cvr Partners's dividend payout ratio of 75.5% indicates that its high dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Basic material stocks were up 2.15% in the last day, and up 3.64% over the last week. Encore Energy was the among the top gainers in the basic materials sector, gaining 3.11% yesterday.

Shares of uranium and nuclear-linked stocks are trading lower. The sector may be reacting to reports suggesting that Ukraine has agreed to a peace proposal that may end its conflict with Russia.

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:

Vale Sa (NYSE:VALE) 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.

Vale Sa has a valuation score of 57, which is 34 points higher than the basic material sector average of 23. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Vale Sa's stock has gained 21.05% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by 29 percentage points.

Nexa Resources Sa (NYSE:NEXA) 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.

Nexa Resources Sa has a valuation score of 14, which is -9 points higher than the basic material sector average of 23. It passed 1 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates NEXA a Valuation Rating of "A".

Nexa Resources Sa's stock has dropped -13.91% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by -6 percentage points.

Caledonia Mining (NYSEMKT:CMCL) 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.

Caledonia 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.

Caledonia Mining's stock has gained 182.8% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by 191 percentage points.

43.46% of basic material stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect basic material stocks to rise by 18.44% over the next year.

4.44% of basic material stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 15.93% of basic material stocks are rated B (Buy), 52.59% are rated C (Hold), 16.3% are rated D (Sell), and 10.74% are rated F (Strong Sell).