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:

Alto Ingredients (NASDAQ:ALTO) is the #1 top basic material stock out of 322 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 Alto Ingredients (NASDAQ:ALTO) is: Value: C, Growth: B, Momentum: B, Sentiment: B, Safety: B, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Alto Ingredients (NASDAQ:ALTO) 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. Alto Ingredients has seen its stock return 427.91% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 425 percentage points.

Alto Ingredients has an average 1 year price target of $10.00, an upside of 120.26% from Alto Ingredients's current stock price of $4.54.

Alto Ingredients stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 1 analyst covering Alto Ingredients, 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.

Orla Mining (NYSEMKT:ORLA) is the #2 top basic material stock out of 322 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 Orla Mining (NYSEMKT:ORLA) is: Value: B, Growth: B, Momentum: B, Sentiment: B, Safety: D, Financials: B, and AI: B.

Orla Mining (NYSEMKT:ORLA) has a Due Diligence Score of 32, which is 2 points higher than the basic material sector average of 30. It passed 11 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Orla Mining has seen its stock return 25.93% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 23 percentage points.

Orla Mining has an average 1 year price target of $15.00, an upside of 5.04% from Orla Mining's current stock price of $14.28.

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

Oceanagold (NYSE:OGC) is the #3 top basic material stock out of 322 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 Oceanagold (NYSE:OGC) is: Value: A, Growth: B, Momentum: A, Sentiment: C, Safety: D, Financials: B, and AI: A.

Oceanagold (NYSE:OGC) has a Due Diligence Score of 7, which is -23 points lower than the basic material sector average of 30. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates OGC as a "A".It passed 2 out of 33 due diligence checks and has weak fundamentals.

Out of 136 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 9.65%, which is 8 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 1.68%. 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 -6.6% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Cvr Partners (NYSE:UAN) has an annual dividend yield of 8.28%, which is 7 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 1.68%. Cvr Partners's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% ten times in the last 10 years. Cvr Partners's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Cvr Partners's dividend payout ratio of 91.7% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) has an annual dividend yield of 8.12%, which is 6 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 1.68%. Westlake Chemical Partners's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Westlake Chemical Partners's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Westlake Chemical Partners's dividend payout ratio of 114.9% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Basic material stocks were down -1.77% in the last day, and up 0.23% over the last week. Hudson Technologies was the among the top losers in the basic materials sector, dropping -18.96% yesterday.

Hudson Technologies shares are trading lower after the company reported mixed Q1 financial results.

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:

B2gold (NYSEMKT:BTG) 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.

B2gold has a valuation score of 43, which is 23 points higher than the basic material sector average of 20. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

B2gold's stock has gained 60.19% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by 58 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 71, which is 51 points higher than the basic material sector average of 20. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Fortuna Mining's stock has gained 69.81% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by 67 percentage points.

Nexa Resources Sa (NYSE:NEXA) 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.

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

Nexa Resources Sa's stock has gained 170.49% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by 168 percentage points.

43.67% of basic material stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect basic material stocks to rise by 13.04% over the next year.

7.29% of basic material stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 20.14% of basic material stocks are rated B (Buy), 46.18% are rated C (Hold), 14.24% are rated D (Sell), and 12.15% are rated F (Strong Sell).