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:

New Gold (NYSEMKT:NGD) 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 New Gold (NYSEMKT:NGD) is: Value: B, Growth: A, Momentum: B, Sentiment: A, Safety: C, Financials: A, and AI: B.

New Gold (NYSEMKT:NGD) has a Due Diligence Score of 68, which is 37 points higher than the basic material sector average of 31. It passed 23 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. New Gold has seen its stock return 166.91% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 168 percentage points.

New Gold has an average 1 year price target of $8.75, an upside of 19.21% from New Gold's current stock price of $7.34.

New Gold stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 2 analysts covering New Gold, 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.

Caledonia Mining (NYSEMKT:CMCL) 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 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 41, which is 10 points higher than the basic material sector average of 31. It passed 17 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Caledonia Mining has seen its stock return 88.6% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 90 percentage points.

Caledonia Mining has an average 1 year price target of $28.00, a downside of -0.43% from Caledonia Mining's current stock price of $28.12.

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.

Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) 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 Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) is: Value: C, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: A, Safety: A, Financials: C, and AI: B.

Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) has a Due Diligence Score of 52, which is 21 points higher than the basic material sector average of 31. It passed 19 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Kaiser Aluminum has seen its stock return 21.91% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 23 percentage points.

Kaiser Aluminum has an average 1 year price target of $106.50, an upside of 17.64% from Kaiser Aluminum's current stock price of $90.53.

Kaiser Aluminum stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 2 analysts covering Kaiser Aluminum, 50% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% 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 104 basic material stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 basic material stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Fmc (NYSE:FMC) has an annual dividend yield of 15.29%, which is 13 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 2.23%. Fmc's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Fmc's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Fmc's dividend payout ratio of 286.4% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Tronox Holdings (NYSE:TROX) has an annual dividend yield of 12.14%, which is 10 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 2.23%. Tronox Holdings's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% two 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 -31.4% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) has an annual dividend yield of 12.08%, which is 10 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 2.23%. Huntsman's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Huntsman's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Huntsman's dividend payout ratio of -51% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Basic material stocks were up 0.15% in the last day, and down -2.36% over the last week. Methanex was the among the top gainers in the basic materials sector, gaining 16.06% yesterday.

Methanex shares are trading higher after JP Morgan upgraded the stock from Neutral to Overweight and raised its price target from $33 to $38.

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:

Caledonia Mining (NYSEMKT:CMCL) 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.

Caledonia 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.

Caledonia Mining's stock has gained 88.6% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by 90 percentage points.

Advansix (NYSE:ASIX) 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.

Advansix has a valuation score of 71, which is 48 points higher than the basic material sector average of 23. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Advansix's stock has dropped -34.47% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by -33 percentage points.

Suncoke Energy (NYSE:SXC) 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.

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 -22.31% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by -21 percentage points.

43.6% of basic material stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect basic material stocks to rise by 16.95% over the next year.

7.89% of basic material stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 13.26% of basic material stocks are rated B (Buy), 53.76% are rated C (Hold), 15.41% are rated D (Sell), and 9.68% are rated F (Strong Sell).