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 135.8% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 134 percentage points.

Caledonia Mining has an average 1 year price target of $28.00, a downside of -12.17% from Caledonia Mining's current stock price of $31.88.

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.

Ssr Mining (NASDAQ:SSRM) 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 Ssr Mining (NASDAQ:SSRM) is: Value: C, 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 276.82% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 275 percentage points.

Ssr Mining has an average 1 year price target of $18.95, a downside of -12.99% from Ssr Mining's current stock price of $21.78.

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.

Cvr Partners (NYSE:UAN) 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 Cvr Partners (NYSE:UAN) is: Value: B, Growth: B, Momentum: B, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Cvr Partners (NYSE:UAN) has a Due Diligence Score of 38, which is 8 points higher than the basic material sector average of 30. It passed 13 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Cvr Partners has seen its stock return 31.53% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 30 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:

Lyondellbasell Industries Nv (NYSE:LYB) has an annual dividend yield of 10.13%, which is 8 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 2.05%. 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 9.98%, which is 8 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 2.05%. 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 2.05%. 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 -0.38% in the last day, and down -0.44% over the last week. Nucor was the among the top losers in the basic materials sector, dropping -0.09% yesterday.

Nucor shares are trading lower after the company issued Q3 GAAP EPS guidance below estimates.

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 20 points higher than the basic material sector average of 23. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Suncoke Energy's stock has dropped -2.97% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by -4 percentage points.

Cf Industries Holdings (NYSE:CF) 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.

Cf Industries Holdings has a valuation score of 29, which is 6 points higher than the basic material sector average of 23. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Cf Industries Holdings's stock has gained 3.34% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by 2 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 58.95% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by 58 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 11.53% over the next year.

5.99% of basic material stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 13.86% of basic material stocks are rated B (Buy), 56.18% are rated C (Hold), 15.73% are rated D (Sell), and 8.24% are rated F (Strong Sell).