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

Caledonia Mining (NYSEMKT:CMCL) has a Due Diligence Score of 45, which is 14 points higher than the basic material sector average of 31. It passed 16 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Caledonia Mining has seen its stock return 83.25% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 85 percentage points.

Caledonia Mining has an average 1 year price target of $21.00, an upside of 0.53% from Caledonia Mining's current stock price of $20.89.

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.

Perma Pipe International Holdings (NASDAQ:PPIH) is the #2 top basic material stock out of 307 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: A, Momentum: B, Sentiment: C, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Perma Pipe International Holdings (NASDAQ:PPIH) has a Due Diligence Score of 41, which is 10 points higher than the basic material sector average of 31. It passed 13 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Perma Pipe International Holdings has seen its stock return 182.26% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 185 percentage points.

Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) is the #3 top basic material stock out of 307 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 40, which is 9 points higher than the basic material sector average of 31. It passed 15 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Kinross Gold has seen its stock return 70.94% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 73 percentage points.

Kinross Gold has an average 1 year price target of $16.50, an upside of 5.84% from Kinross Gold's current stock price of $15.59.

Kinross Gold stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 4 analysts covering Kinross Gold, 25% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 50% have issued a Buy, 25% have issued a Hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 129 basic material stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 basic material stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

American Vanguard (NYSE:AVD) has an annual dividend yield of N/A, which is N/A percentage points lower than the basic material sector average of 2.19%. American Vanguard's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. American Vanguard's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

American Vanguard's dividend payout ratio of -0.6% indicates that its dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Tronox Holdings (NYSE:TROX) has an annual dividend yield of 8.99%, which is 7 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 2.19%. Tronox Holdings's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. Tronox Holdings's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Tronox Holdings's dividend payout ratio of -52.1% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Cementos Pacasmayo Saa (NYSE:CPAC) has an annual dividend yield of 8.83%, which is 7 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 2.19%. Cementos Pacasmayo Saa's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% two times in the last 10 years. Cementos Pacasmayo Saa's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Cementos Pacasmayo Saa's dividend payout ratio of 85.3% indicates that its high dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Basic material stocks were down -0.16% in the last day, and up 1.68% over the last week. Alcoa was the among the top losers in the basic materials sector, dropping -4.18% yesterday.

Alcoa shares are trading lower after the company and its joint venture partner announced that San Ciprián smelter operations will be delayed to mid-2026 following a national power outage.

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 -3.43% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by -1 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 gained 9.5% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by 12 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 24.86% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by 27 percentage points.

46.45% of basic material stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect basic material stocks to rise by 11.87% over the next year.

4.89% of basic material stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 13.53% of basic material stocks are rated B (Buy), 52.63% are rated C (Hold), 18.05% are rated D (Sell), and 10.9% are rated F (Strong Sell).