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 306 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: C, Momentum: B, Sentiment: A, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Caledonia Mining (NYSEMKT:CMCL) has a Due Diligence Score of 28, which is -3 points lower than the basic material sector average of 31. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates CMCL as a "A".It passed 11 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Caledonia Mining has seen its stock return 36.58% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 46 percentage points.

Pan American Silver (NYSE:PAAS) is the #2 top basic material stock out of 306 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 Pan American Silver (NYSE:PAAS) is: Value: C, Growth: B, Momentum: B, Sentiment: A, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: B.

Pan American Silver (NYSE:PAAS) has a Due Diligence Score of 51, which is 20 points higher than the basic material sector average of 31. It passed 19 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Pan American Silver has seen its stock return 37.14% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 46 percentage points.

Pan American Silver has an average 1 year price target of $34.00, an upside of 33.07% from Pan American Silver's current stock price of $25.55.

Pan American Silver stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 3 analysts covering Pan American Silver, 33.33% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 66.67% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a Hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) is the #3 top basic material stock out of 306 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 Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: B, Sentiment: A, Safety: C, Financials: A, and AI: C.

Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) has a Due Diligence Score of 36, which is 5 points higher than the basic material sector average of 31. It passed 13 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Kinross Gold has seen its stock return 108.03% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 117 percentage points.

Kinross Gold has an average 1 year price target of $16.00, an upside of 8.33% from Kinross Gold's current stock price of $14.77.

Kinross Gold stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 2 analysts covering Kinross 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 125 basic material stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 basic material stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (NYSE:SQM) has an annual dividend yield of N/A, which is N/A percentage points lower than the basic material sector average of 2.33%. Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% fifteen times in the last 10 years. Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile's dividend payout ratio of 8.9% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Buenaventura Mining Co (NYSE:BVN) has an annual dividend yield of N/A, which is N/A percentage points lower than the basic material sector average of 2.33%. Buenaventura Mining Co's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% two times in the last 10 years. Buenaventura Mining Co's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Buenaventura Mining Co's dividend payout ratio of 0% indicates that its dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Flexible Solutions International (NYSEMKT:FSI) has an annual dividend yield of N/A, which is N/A percentage points lower than the basic material sector average of 2.33%. Flexible Solutions International's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% two times in the last 10 years. Flexible Solutions International's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Flexible Solutions International's dividend payout ratio of 41.7% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Basic material stocks were up 1.21% in the last day, and up 1.5% over the last week. Compass Minerals International was the among the top gainers in the basic materials sector, gaining 26.21% yesterday.

Compass Minerals shares are trading higher after the company reported better-than-expected Q2 financial results and raised its FY25 sales guidance.

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:

Advansix (NYSE:ASIX) 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.

Advansix 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.

Advansix's stock has dropped -3.52% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by 6 percentage points.

Cemex Sab De CV (NYSE:CX) 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.

Cemex Sab De CV 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.

Cemex Sab De CV's stock has dropped -16.75% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by -8 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 57, which is 34 points higher than the basic material sector average of 23. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Fortuna Mining's stock has gained 11.43% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by 21 percentage points.

47.89% of basic material stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect basic material stocks to rise by 20.8% over the next year.

2.97% of basic material stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 15.24% of basic material stocks are rated B (Buy), 51.3% are rated C (Hold), 19.33% are rated D (Sell), and 11.15% are rated F (Strong Sell).