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10 Best Materials Stocks to Invest in According to Wall Street Analysts

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A quarry can sell crushed stone cheaply and still lose a job to a closer supplier. Stone is heavy and inexpensive per ton, so freight can wipe out a price advantage at the quarry. The U.S. Justice Department has treated construction aggregates as local markets in merger reviews for that reason. A well-located quarry may face only a few rivals within economical trucking distance. Our 11 Best Materials Stocks to Buy According to Hedge Funds covers how major aggregate suppliers serve those regional markets.

That local advantage can help a quarry raise delivered prices when diesel, wages or freight get more expensive. A miner selling into a global market cares more about the spread between metal prices and extraction costs. Both businesses can lose margin if costs rise faster than selling prices. In September, U.S. consumer prices rose 3.7% from a year earlier. According to the Associated General Contractors of America’s analysis of federal data, input prices for new nonresidential construction rose 11.9% and truck freight prices rose 19.3%.

Demand varies just as much as pricing power. As per AGC’s analysis of Census Bureau data, U.S. construction spending fell 2.7% year over year in September, but data center construction spending rose 90%. Private electric power construction rose 14%, and spending on highways and streets climbed 3.5%. Single-family construction fell 2.4%.

A supplier near a data center cluster can see orders grow, while a quarry that depends on new subdivisions ships less. The buildout also creates demand for materials used in power systems, a connection we explored in 10 Cheapest AI Data Center Stocks to Buy According to Billionaires.

Housing could supply new demand if borrowing costs ease. The Fed held its policy rate at 3.75% to 4% on October 28, and Freddie Mac mortgage survey reported a 7.18% average 30-year fixed mortgage rate on November 5. Lower mortgage rates could bring more buyers into the market and give builders a reason to start more homes. Meanwhile, a slowdown in data center construction could ease competition for some inputs while it cuts orders for suppliers serving those sites. Our 10 Best Housing Stocks to Buy in 2026 examines how builders use incentives when financing costs squeeze buyers.

These differences shape what a materials investor needs to watch. For an operating quarry, higher selling prices matter most if they protect profit per ton and orders hold up. For a mine developer, higher commodity prices may improve the project’s economics, but permitting, construction and financing still determine when it can make its first sale. Therefore, the same analyst’s upside figure can rest on very different assumptions about how a business will earn cash.

Our Methodology

We identified materials companies from the holdings of the Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLB), the iShares U.S. Basic Materials ETF (IYM) and the Fidelity MSCI Materials Index ETF (FMAT), then widened the universe through targeted web searches. We screened US-listed companies across mining, metals, chemicals, construction materials, forestry products and packaging. We ranked the ten qualifying stocks with the highest implied upside to their average targets.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Insider Monkey’s quarterly newsletter strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 612% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 375 percentage points (see more details here).

10. Almonty Industries Inc. (NASDAQ:ALM)

Analyst Upside Potential: 152.32%

Tungsten prices rose, and Almonty Industries Inc.’s (NASDAQ: ALM) second-quarter revenue climbed 498% year over year to C$43.0 million. Adjusted EBITDA came in at C$17.6 million, a swing from an adjusted EBITDA loss of C$4.8 million a year earlier. In the first half, the company brought in C$31.6 million in operating cash, after using C14.9 million over the same stretch last year. It also raised $800 million through convertible notes and finished June with about C$1.2 billion in cash.

Price drove those gains. Volume is the next question, and it depends on Sangdong in South Korea. The mine got final operating certificates for its Phase I processing plant and crushing facilities in September, and management reported a first commercial shipment in October. Almonty aims for about 640,000 tonnes of annual ore throughput once Phase I runs at full capacity. A July amendment lifted the volume under its long-term supply contract by 40%. To turn that contract into sales, the mine has to hold steady throughput and recoveries while it ramps up.

Analyst consensus forecasts predict exponential growth for Almonty Industries Inc. in fiscal year 2027, as the flagship Sangdong Mine in South Korea completes its initial ramp-up and enters full-scale operations. Official management guidance heavily coordinates with long-term take-or-pay offtake agreements covering 90% of their output, placing the company on a highly visible path to sustained cash generation over the next 12 months.

Our earlier 12 Undervalued Stocks to Buy According to Wall Street covered Sangdong when it began processing ore, before it shipped concentrate to a customer.

9. Perpetua Resources Corp. (NASDAQ:PPTA)

Analyst Upside Potential: 154.67%

On November 4, Perpetua Resources Corp. (NASDAQ:PPTA) reported gold and antimony drill results near a planned pit at its Stibnite project in Idaho. At the Fiddle target, about 750 meters south of the permitted Yellow Pine pit, the first hole intersected a 109.7-meter interval grading 3.2 grams of gold per tonne and 1.1% antimony. Perpetua needs more drilling and technical work before it can bring the discovery into a mine plan. A separate U.S. Army award offers up to $40 million for tungsten exploration, and Perpetua matches the contribution.

Stibnite has yet to make commercial mining revenue. Higher exploration and pre-development spending widened the June-quarter net loss to $97.5 million from $6.0 million a year earlier. Perpetua had $574.2 million in unrestricted cash and equivalents at quarter-end. The U.S. Export-Import Bank’s board approved a $2.9 billion loan. But Perpetua still has to meet loan closing conditions as it works toward a final investment and construction decision.

For an earlier step in that process, 9 Best Junior Gold Mining Stocks to Buy Now covers Perpetua’s appointment of Stibnite’s engineering and construction manager.

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