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:

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) is the #1 top basic material stock out of 317 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 Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) is: Value: A, Growth: C, Momentum: B, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: A, and AI: B.

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) has a Due Diligence Score of 41, which is 11 points higher than the basic material sector average of 30. It passed 14 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Westlake Chemical Partners has seen its stock lose -4.57% over the past year, underperforming other basic material stocks by -31 percentage points.

Nexa Resources Sa (NYSE:NEXA) is the #2 top basic material stock out of 317 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 Nexa Resources Sa (NYSE:NEXA) is: Value: A, Growth: A, Momentum: A, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: A.

Nexa Resources Sa (NYSE:NEXA) has a Due Diligence Score of 24, which is -6 points lower than the basic material sector average of 30. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates NEXA as a "A".It passed 10 out of 38 due diligence checks and has weak fundamentals. Nexa Resources Sa has seen its stock return 139.3% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 113 percentage points.

Nexa Resources Sa has an average 1 year price target of $11.75, a downside of -18.57% from Nexa Resources Sa's current stock price of $14.43.

Nexa Resources Sa stock has a consensus Hold recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 4 analysts covering Nexa Resources Sa, 0% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 100% have issued a Hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Orla Mining (NYSEMKT:ORLA) is the #3 top basic material stock out of 317 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 Orla Mining (NYSEMKT:ORLA) is: Value: B, Growth: B, Momentum: B, Sentiment: B, Safety: D, Financials: B, and AI: B.

Orla Mining (NYSEMKT:ORLA) has a Due Diligence Score of 32, which is 2 points higher than the basic material sector average of 30. It passed 11 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Orla Mining has seen its stock return 34.59% over the past year, overperforming other basic material stocks by 8 percentage points.

Orla Mining has an average 1 year price target of $15.00, an upside of 2.81% from Orla Mining's current stock price of $14.59.

Orla Mining stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 1 analyst covering Orla 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.

Out of 134 basic material stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 basic material stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ:ARLP) has an annual dividend yield of 10.04%, which is 8 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 1.73%. 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 104.2% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Fmc (NYSE:FMC) has an annual dividend yield of 8.87%, which is 7 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 1.73%. Fmc's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. Fmc's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Fmc's dividend payout ratio of -10.2% 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 8.35%, which is 7 percentage points higher than the basic material sector average of 1.73%. 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 136.5% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Basic material stocks were up 0.39% in the last day, and up 0.67% over the last week. Sensient Technologies was the among the top gainers in the basic materials sector, gaining 24.11% yesterday.

Sensient Technologies shares are trading higher after the company reported better-than-expected Q1 financial results and raised its FY2026 EPS guidance above estimates.

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 29, which is 7 points higher than the basic material sector average of 22. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Nexa Resources Sa's stock has gained 139.3% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by 113 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 71, which is 49 points higher than the basic material sector average of 22. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Fortuna Mining's stock has gained 67.54% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by 41 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 7 points higher than the basic material sector average of 22. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Cf Industries Holdings's stock has gained 56.44% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the basic material sector by 30 percentage points.

43.3% of basic material stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect basic material stocks to rise by 11% over the next year.

6.36% of basic material stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 18.73% of basic material stocks are rated B (Buy), 49.82% are rated C (Hold), 15.19% are rated D (Sell), and 9.89% are rated F (Strong Sell).