Sectors & IndustriesBasic Materials

Best Basic Material Stocks to Buy Now (2026)

Top basic material stocks in 2026 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:

Perma Pipe International Holdings (NASDAQ:PPIH) is the #1 top basic material stock out of 312 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: B, Growth: B, Momentum: B, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Perma Pipe International Holdings (NASDAQ:PPIH) has a Due Diligence Score of 46, which is 16 points higher than the basic material sector average of 30. It passed 15 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Perma Pipe International Holdings has seen its stock return 119.2% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 99 percentage points.

Commercial Metals Co (NYSE:CMC) is the #2 top basic material stock out of 312 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 46, which is 16 points higher than the basic material sector average of 30. It passed 17 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Commercial Metals Co has seen its stock return 59.39% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 39 percentage points.

Commercial Metals Co has an average 1 year price target of $75.88, a downside of -4.87% from Commercial Metals Co's current stock price of $79.76.

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.

Centerra Gold (NYSE:CGAU) is the #3 top basic material stock out of 312 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 Centerra Gold (NYSE:CGAU) is: Value: B, Growth: B, Momentum: A, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Centerra Gold (NYSE:CGAU) has a Due Diligence Score of 38, which is 8 points higher than the basic material sector average of 30. It passed 15 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Centerra Gold has seen its stock return 167.57% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 148 percentage points.

Centerra Gold has an average 1 year price target of $16.50, a downside of -7.41% from Centerra Gold's current stock price of $17.82.

Centerra Gold stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 2 analysts covering Centerra Gold, 0% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 50% 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 100 basic material stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 basic material stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Fmc (NYSE:FMC) has an annual dividend yield of 12.53%, which is 11 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 1.88%. Fmc's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. Fmc's dividend has not 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 10.77%, which is 9 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 1.88%. 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.

Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ:ARLP) has an annual dividend yield of 9.86%, which is 8 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 1.88%. Alliance Resource Partners's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% four times in the last 10 years. Alliance Resource Partners's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Alliance Resource Partners's dividend payout ratio of 137.6% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Basic material stocks were down -3% in the last day, and up 2.42% over the last week. Vista Gold was the among the top losers in the basic materials sector, dropping -13.77% yesterday.

Shares of precious metal stocks are trading lower as traders move into treasury bonds. Weakness in the commodity may be due to better-than-expected US jobs data for January, which may lower expectations about future rate cuts.

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:

Cabot (NYSE:CBT) 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.

Cabot 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.

Cabot's stock has dropped -10.44% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by -31 percentage points.

Caledonia Mining (NYSEMKT:CMCL) 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.

Caledonia Mining has a valuation score of 57, which is 35 points higher than the basic material sector average of 22. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Caledonia Mining's stock has gained 166.35% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by 146 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 15.99% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by -4 percentage points.

45.79% of basic material stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect basic material stocks to rise by 4.47% over the next year.

5.9% of basic material stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 18.82% of basic material stocks are rated B (Buy), 48.34% are rated C (Hold), 16.97% are rated D (Sell), and 9.96% are rated F (Strong Sell).