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 310 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 45, which is 15 points higher than the basic material sector average of 30. It passed 18 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Caledonia Mining has seen its stock return 128.6% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 126 percentage points.

Caledonia Mining has an average 1 year price target of $28.00, a downside of -10.4% from Caledonia Mining's current stock price of $31.25.

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.

New Gold (NYSEMKT:NGD) is the #2 top basic material stock out of 310 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 New Gold (NYSEMKT:NGD) is: Value: B, Growth: A, Momentum: B, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

New Gold (NYSEMKT:NGD) has a Due Diligence Score of 35, which is 5 points higher than the basic material sector average of 30. It passed 11 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. New Gold has seen its stock return 105.43% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 103 percentage points.

New Gold has an average 1 year price target of $5.50, a downside of -14.46% from New Gold's current stock price of $6.43.

New Gold stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 2 analysts covering New 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.

Ssr Mining (NASDAQ:SSRM) is the #3 top basic material stock out of 310 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 Ssr Mining (NASDAQ:SSRM) is: Value: B, Growth: A, Momentum: A, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Ssr Mining (NASDAQ:SSRM) has a Due Diligence Score of 46, which is 16 points higher than the basic material sector average of 30. It passed 18 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Ssr Mining has seen its stock return 265.7% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 263 percentage points.

Ssr Mining has an average 1 year price target of $18.95, a downside of -12.02% from Ssr Mining's current stock price of $21.54.

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

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:

Lyondellbasell Industries Nv (NYSE:LYB) has an annual dividend yield of 10.29%, which is 8 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 2.04%. 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.

Dow (NYSE:DOW) has an annual dividend yield of 10.01%, which is 8 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 2.04%. Dow's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. Dow's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Dow's dividend payout ratio of -200% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Cvr Partners (NYSE:UAN) has an annual dividend yield of 9.93%, which is 8 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 2.04%. 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 85.3% indicates that its high dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Basic material stocks were down -0.94% in the last day, and up 0.37% over the last week. Cameco was the among the top losers in the basic materials sector, dropping -7.06% yesterday.

Shares of uranium and nuclear-linked stocks are trading lower amid a possible sell-off. Yesterday, stocks surged ahead of a nuclear energy deal between the United States and the United Kingdom and after news that the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission signed a refreshed MOU with the UK's Office for Nuclear Regulation.

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:

Suncoke Energy (NYSE:SXC) 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.

Suncoke Energy has a valuation score of 43, which is 21 points higher than the basic material sector average of 22. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Suncoke Energy's stock has dropped -0.88% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by -3 percentage points.

Fortuna Mining (NYSE:FSM) 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.

Fortuna Mining has a valuation score of 43, which is 21 points higher than the basic material sector average of 22. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Fortuna Mining's stock has gained 58.92% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by 57 percentage points.

Cf Industries Holdings (NYSE:CF) 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.

Cf Industries Holdings has a valuation score of 29, which is 7 points higher than the basic material sector average of 22. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Cf Industries Holdings's stock has gained 6.56% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by 4 percentage points.

48.11% of basic material stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect basic material stocks to rise by 11.15% over the next year.

5.99% of basic material stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 14.23% of basic material stocks are rated B (Buy), 56.18% are rated C (Hold), 15.36% are rated D (Sell), and 8.24% are rated F (Strong Sell).