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 308 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 33, which is 2 points higher than the basic material sector average of 31. It passed 13 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Caledonia Mining has seen its stock return 110.69% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 108 percentage points.

Caledonia Mining has an average 1 year price target of $21.00, an upside of 0.48% from Caledonia Mining's current stock price of $20.90.

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.

Pan American Silver (NYSE:PAAS) is the #2 top basic material stock out of 308 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 Pan American Silver (NYSE:PAAS) is: Value: C, Growth: A, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: A.

Pan American Silver (NYSE:PAAS) has a Due Diligence Score of 47, which is 16 points higher than the basic material sector average of 31. It passed 18 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Pan American Silver has seen its stock return 44.62% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 42 percentage points.

Pan American Silver has an average 1 year price target of $33.00, an upside of 14.66% from Pan American Silver's current stock price of $28.78.

Pan American Silver stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 3 analysts covering Pan American Silver, 33.33% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 66.67% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a Hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) is the #3 top basic material stock out of 308 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 94.14% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 91 percentage points.

Kinross Gold has an average 1 year price target of $16.50, an upside of 5.97% from Kinross Gold's current stock price of $15.57.

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 128 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 2.17%. 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 9.04%, which is 7 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 2.17%. 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.

Huntsman (NYSE:HUN) has an annual dividend yield of 8.83%, which is 7 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 2.17%. 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 -109.9% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Basic material stocks were up 1.68% in the last day, and up 5.11% over the last week. Warrior Met Coal was the among the top gainers in the basic materials sector, gaining 13.4% yesterday.

Shares of coal stocks are trading higher following Senate passage of Trump's spending bill, which includes favorable implications for the sector.

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 gained 13.27% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by 10 percentage points.

Fortuna Mining (NYSE:FSM) 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.

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 33.94% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by 31 percentage points.

Vale Sa (NYSE:VALE) 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.

Vale Sa 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.

Vale Sa's stock has dropped -7.72% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by -10 percentage points.

43.26% of basic material stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect basic material stocks to rise by 12.31% over the next year.

6.02% of basic material stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 12.41% of basic material stocks are rated B (Buy), 51.5% are rated C (Hold), 19.55% are rated D (Sell), and 10.53% are rated F (Strong Sell).