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:

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) is the #1 top basic material stock out of 324 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 Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) is: Value: A, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) has a Due Diligence Score of 36, which is 6 points higher than the basic material sector average of 30. It passed 14 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Green Plains has seen its stock return 80.02% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 70 percentage points.

Green Plains has an average 1 year price target of $18.25, an upside of 17.06% from Green Plains's current stock price of $15.59.

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

Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) is the #2 top basic material stock out of 324 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 Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) is: Value: C, Growth: B, Momentum: B, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: A.

Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) has a Due Diligence Score of 53, which is 23 points higher than the basic material sector average of 30. It passed 20 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Kaiser Aluminum has seen its stock return 140.57% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 130 percentage points.

Kaiser Aluminum has an average 1 year price target of $168.25, a downside of -7.42% from Kaiser Aluminum's current stock price of $181.73.

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

Alto Ingredients (NASDAQ:ALTO) is the #3 top basic material stock out of 324 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: B, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Alto Ingredients (NASDAQ:ALTO) has a Due Diligence Score of 47, which is 17 points higher than the basic material sector average of 30. It passed 15 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Alto Ingredients has seen its stock return 301.92% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 292 percentage points.

Alto Ingredients has an average 1 year price target of $10.00, an upside of 139.23% from Alto Ingredients's current stock price of $4.18.

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.

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:

Cvr Partners (NYSE:UAN) has an annual dividend yield of 11.72%, which is 10 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 1.71%. 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 81.1% indicates that its high dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ:ARLP) has an annual dividend yield of 9.44%, which is 8 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 1.71%. 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 117.1% 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 8.69%, which is 7 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 1.71%. 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 115.6% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Basic material stocks were up 0.74% in the last day, and down -0.13% over the last week. Evolution Metals & Technologies was the among the top gainers in the basic materials sector, gaining 34.07% yesterday.

Shares of rare earth and critical minerals-related companies are trading higher. Trump administration decisions to place tariffs on drones and drone parts and enter agreements with Boeing and RTX to increase interceptor missile production may help fortify the demand outlook for elements needed for magnets, ordnance and more.

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 24 points higher than the basic material sector average of 19. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Nexa Resources Sa's stock has gained 190.57% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by 180 percentage points.

Iamgold (NYSE:IAG) 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.

Iamgold has a valuation score of 71, which is 52 points higher than the basic material sector average of 19. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Iamgold's stock has gained 128.75% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by 118 percentage points.

Cf Industries Holdings (NYSE:CF) 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.

Cf Industries Holdings has a valuation score of 29, which is 10 points higher than the basic material sector average of 19. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Cf Industries Holdings's stock has gained 38.74% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by 28 percentage points.

43.42% of basic material stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect basic material stocks to rise by 16.65% over the next year.

3.56% of basic material stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 17.44% of basic material stocks are rated B (Buy), 52.31% are rated C (Hold), 18.15% are rated D (Sell), and 8.54% are rated F (Strong Sell).