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 327 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +28.5% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Alto Ingredients (NASDAQ:ALTO) is: Value: C, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: A, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: B.

Alto Ingredients (NASDAQ:ALTO) has a Due Diligence Score of 32, which is 3 points higher than the basic material sector average of 29. It passed 10 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Alto Ingredients has seen its stock return 415.52% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 406 percentage points.

Alto Ingredients has an average 1 year price target of $10.00, an upside of 67.22% from Alto Ingredients's current stock price of $5.98.

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.

Koppers Holdings (NYSE:KOP) is the #2 top basic material stock out of 327 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +28.5% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Koppers Holdings (NYSE:KOP) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: B, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: B.

Koppers Holdings (NYSE:KOP) has a Due Diligence Score of 30, which is 1 points higher than the basic material sector average of 29. It passed 10 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Koppers Holdings has seen its stock return 34.1% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 25 percentage points.

Koppers Holdings has an average 1 year price target of $55.00, an upside of 23.43% from Koppers Holdings's current stock price of $44.56.

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

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) is the #3 top basic material stock out of 327 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +28.5% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Nucor (NYSE:NUE) is: Value: C, Growth: B, Momentum: A, Sentiment: B, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) has a Due Diligence Score of 43, which is 14 points higher than the basic material sector average of 29. It passed 16 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Nucor has seen its stock return 63.31% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 54 percentage points.

Nucor has an average 1 year price target of $252.22, an upside of 15.16% from Nucor's current stock price of $219.02.

Nucor stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 9 analysts covering Nucor, 55.56% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 11.11% have issued a Buy, 33.33% have issued a Hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 141 basic material stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 basic material stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) has an annual dividend yield of N/A, which is N/A percentage points lower than the basic material sector average of 1.82%. Mercer International's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. Mercer International's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Mercer International's dividend payout ratio of -1% indicates that its dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Cvr Partners (NYSE:UAN) has an annual dividend yield of 11%, which is 9 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 1.82%. 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 91.7% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ:ARLP) has an annual dividend yield of 10.11%, which is 8 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 1.82%. Alliance Resource Partners's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% three times in the last 10 years. Alliance Resource Partners's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Alliance Resource Partners's dividend payout ratio of 126.3% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Basic material stocks were down -0.97% in the last day, and down -0.77% over the last week. Alcoa was the among the top losers in the basic materials sector, dropping -8.94% yesterday.

Alcoa shares are trading lower after the company announced it will acquire South32's interest in bauxite mine, alumina refinery and aluminum smelter operations.

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:

Nexa Resources Sa (NYSE:NEXA) 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.

Nexa Resources Sa has a valuation score of 43, which is 26 points higher than the basic material sector average of 17. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Nexa Resources Sa's stock has gained 140.8% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by 132 percentage points.

B2gold (NYSEMKT:BTG) 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.

B2gold has a valuation score of 29, which is 12 points higher than the basic material sector average of 17. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

B2gold's stock has gained 5.82% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by -3 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 71, which is 54 points higher than the basic material sector average of 17. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Fortuna Mining's stock has gained 25.19% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by 16 percentage points.

44.14% of basic material stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect basic material stocks to rise by 18.21% over the next year.

9.89% of basic material stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 16.61% of basic material stocks are rated B (Buy), 48.41% are rated C (Hold), 14.49% are rated D (Sell), and 10.6% are rated F (Strong Sell).