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 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 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 99.39% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 92 percentage points.

Green Plains has an average 1 year price target of $18.25, an upside of 12.31% from Green Plains's current stock price of $16.25.

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.

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

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) has a Due Diligence Score of 46, which is 16 points higher than the basic material sector average of 30. It passed 17 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Nucor has seen its stock return 70.07% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 63 percentage points.

Nucor has an average 1 year price target of $268.10, an upside of 10.04% from Nucor's current stock price of $243.63.

Nucor stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 11 analysts covering Nucor, 54.55% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 9.09% have issued a Buy, 36.36% have issued a Hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (NYSE:SQM) 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 Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (NYSE:SQM) is: Value: B, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: A.

Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (NYSE:SQM) has a Due Diligence Score of 29, which is -1 points lower than the basic material sector average of 30. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates SQM as a "A".It passed 11 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile has seen its stock return 81.13% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 74 percentage points.

Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile has an average 1 year price target of $85.20, an upside of 3.95% from Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile's current stock price of $81.96.

Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 5 analysts covering Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile, 40% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 20% have issued a Buy, 20% have issued a Hold, while 20% 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 11.49%, which is 10 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 1.72%. 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 9.13%, which is 7 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 1.72%. 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 8.74%, which is 7 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 1.72%. 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 1.79% in the last day, and up 0.1% over the last week. Critical Metals was the among the top gainers in the basic materials sector, gaining 22.59% yesterday.

Shares of critical metal companies are trading higher, possibly after the U.S. DOE recently selected seven projects to expand critical mineral and material processing, battery manufacturing and recycling capacity. This third round of funding aligns with President Trump's 'Unleashing American Energy' executive order that benefits critical metal and non-fuel mineral producers and processors.

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 23 points higher than the basic material sector average of 20. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Nexa Resources Sa's stock has gained 214.29% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by 207 percentage points.

Oceanagold (NYSE:OGC) 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.

Oceanagold has a valuation score of 71, which is 51 points higher than the basic material sector average of 20. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Century Aluminum Co (NASDAQ:CENX) 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.

Century Aluminum Co has a valuation score of 57, which is 37 points higher than the basic material sector average of 20. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Century Aluminum Co's stock has gained 99.91% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by 92 percentage points.

42.54% of basic material stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect basic material stocks to rise by 16.26% over the next year.

4.63% of basic material stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 16.37% of basic material stocks are rated B (Buy), 51.96% are rated C (Hold), 18.51% are rated D (Sell), and 8.54% are rated F (Strong Sell).