Top Basic Materials Stocks by Return on Assets
Top basic materials companies ranked by return on assets, latest annual filings.
What Return on Assets Means for Basic Materials Companies
Return on assets divides profit by the mines, mills, smelters and processing plants a basic materials company owns. Those assets are long-lived and deplete as they are used, and the ore or timber still in the ground is not on the balance sheet until it is developed. Prices for the output move in cycles the company does not control, so returns look strongest late in an upcycle and thin at the bottom of one.
Why It Matters Less in Basic Materials
Undeveloped reserves are the problem. A miner sitting on a large, high-grade deposit carries only the cost of getting to it, so its denominator understates what the company actually holds and its return looks better than the capital behind it warrants. Depreciation on old plant works the same way. Add the cycle, where one strong price year lifts the ratio sharply, and cross-company comparison in a single year says little. Returns averaged across a cycle are steadier ground.
What to Read Alongside
Pair return on assets with Return on Equity to separate operating returns from balance-sheet risk, Net Margin to see where a producer sits on the cost curve, and Total Assets to judge how much of the base is depreciated plant.
| # | Symbol | Company | Sector | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GFI | Gold Fields Limited | Basic Materials | 23.94% | $31.36B |
| 2 | AU | AngloGold Ashanti plc | Basic Materials | 21.05% | $43.03B |
| 3 | SCCO | Southern Copper Corporation | Basic Materials | 20.27% | $157.06B |
| 4 | KGC | Kinross Gold Corporation | Basic Materials | 19.26% | $26.57B |
| 5 | HMY | Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited | Basic Materials | 18.56% | $9.97B |
| 6 | WPM | Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. | Basic Materials | 16.13% | $55.58B |
| 7 | SIM | Grupo Simec, S.A.B. de C.V. | Basic Materials | 14.31% | $3.97B |
| 8 | AGI | Alamos Gold Inc. | Basic Materials | 13.87% | $12.65B |
| 9 | BVN | Compañía de Minas Buenaventura S.A.A. | Basic Materials | 13.78% | $7.22B |
| 10 | FNV | Franco-Nevada Corporation | Basic Materials | 13.49% | $44.49B |
| 11 | AEM | Agnico Eagle Mines Limited | Basic Materials | 12.94% | $88.96B |
| 12 | IAG | IAMGOLD Corporation | Basic Materials | 12.51% | $9.33B |
| 13 | CDE | Coeur Mining, Inc. | Basic Materials | 12.48% | $14.02B |
| 14 | NEM | Newmont Corporation | Basic Materials | 12.40% | $114.72B |
| 15 | NEU | NewMarket Corporation | Basic Materials | 11.99% | $8.07B |
| 16 | SSD | Simpson Manufacturing Co., Inc. | Basic Materials | 11.23% | $7.46B |
| 17 | EXP | Eagle Materials Inc. | Basic Materials | 11.03% | $5.34B |
| 18 | CF | CF Industries Holdings, Inc. | Basic Materials | 10.33% | $18.29B |
| 19 | PAAS | Pan American Silver Corp. | Basic Materials | 10.06% | $16.72B |
| 20 | SHW | The Sherwin-Williams Company | Basic Materials | 9.92% | $81.36B |
| 21 | TTAM | Titan America SA | Basic Materials | 9.79% | $2.47B |
| 22 | B | Barrick Mining Corporation | Basic Materials | 9.68% | $62.92B |
| 23 | BCPC | Balchem Corporation | Basic Materials | 9.18% | $5.44B |
| 24 | HBM | Hudbay Minerals Inc. | Basic Materials | 9.14% | $9.84B |
| 25 | HL | Hecla Mining Company | Basic Materials | 9.04% | $9.39B |
| 26 | CBT | Cabot Corporation | Basic Materials | 8.68% | $3.76B |
| 27 | ECL | Ecolab Inc. | Basic Materials | 8.40% | $81.00B |
| 28 | HWKN | Hawkins, Inc. | Basic Materials | 8.27% | $2.83B |
| 29 | BHP | BHP Group Limited | Basic Materials | 8.10% | $201.11B |
| 30 | LIN | Linde plc | Basic Materials | 7.95% | $233.98B |
| 31 | RPM | RPM International Inc. | Basic Materials | 7.93% | $12.49B |
| 32 | RIO | Rio Tinto Group | Basic Materials | 7.78% | $136.16B |
| 33 | EGO | Eldorado Gold Corporation | Basic Materials | 7.54% | $8.27B |
| 34 | UFPI | UFP Industries, Inc. | Basic Materials | 7.33% | $4.46B |
| 35 | STLD | Steel Dynamics, Inc. | Basic Materials | 7.22% | $33.78B |
| 36 | AA | Alcoa Corporation | Basic Materials | 7.17% | $10.21B |
| 37 | PPG | PPG Industries, Inc. | Basic Materials | 7.13% | $24.43B |
| 38 | RS | Reliance, Inc. | Basic Materials | 7.13% | $21.54B |
| 39 | BTG | B2Gold Corp. | Basic Materials | 6.84% | $6.37B |
| 40 | SSRM | SSR Mining Inc. | Basic Materials | 6.49% | $5.79B |
| 41 | VMC | Vulcan Materials Company | Basic Materials | 6.45% | $33.88B |
| 42 | CRH | CRH plc | Basic Materials | 6.43% | $56.84B |
| 43 | IOSP | Innospec Inc. | Basic Materials | 6.36% | $2.44B |
| 44 | MLM | Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. | Basic Materials | 6.08% | $35.79B |
| 45 | SXT | Sensient Technologies Corporation | Basic Materials | 5.99% | $5.59B |
| 46 | SMG | The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company | Basic Materials | 5.30% | $3.43B |
| 47 | CSTM | Constellium SE | Basic Materials | 5.10% | $3.17B |
| 48 | AXTA | Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. | Basic Materials | 4.97% | $7.31B |
| 49 | NUE | Nucor Corporation | Basic Materials | 4.97% | $58.39B |
| 50 | AMRZ | Amrize Ltd | Basic Materials | 4.89% | $21.46B |
| 51 | RGLD | Royal Gold, Inc. | Basic Materials | 4.89% | $19.84B |
| 52 | SLVM | Sylvamo Corporation | Basic Materials | 4.78% | $1.30B |
| 53 | SQM | Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. | Basic Materials | 4.42% | $16.27B |
| 54 | KALU | Kaiser Aluminum Corporation | Basic Materials | 4.39% | $1.72B |
| 55 | NTR | Nutrien Ltd. | Basic Materials | 4.33% | $32.56B |
| 56 | KNF | Knife River Corporation | Basic Materials | 4.30% | $3.00B |
| 57 | SOLS | Solstice Advanced Materials, Inc. | Basic Materials | 4.18% | $9.59B |
| 58 | MTRN | Materion Corporation | Basic Materials | 4.15% | $4.72B |
| 59 | BCC | Boise Cascade Company | Basic Materials | 4.10% | $2.63B |
| 60 | WLKP | Westlake Chemical Partners LP | Basic Materials | 3.88% | $744.75M |
| 61 | FCX | Freeport-McMoRan Inc. | Basic Materials | 3.79% | $93.57B |
| 62 | ESI | Element Solutions Inc | Basic Materials | 3.74% | $8.17B |
| 63 | AG | First Majestic Silver Corp. | Basic Materials | 3.51% | $7.32B |
| 64 | CX | CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. | Basic Materials | 3.35% | $14.70B |
| 65 | MT | ArcelorMittal S.A. | Basic Materials | 3.23% | $44.69B |
| 66 | EMN | Eastman Chemical Company | Basic Materials | 3.19% | $7.51B |
| 67 | TECK | Teck Resources Limited | Basic Materials | 3.08% | $29.56B |
| 68 | KOP | Koppers Holdings Inc. | Basic Materials | 2.97% | $753.25M |
| 69 | FUL | H.B. Fuller Company | Basic Materials | 2.93% | $2.64B |
| 70 | ASIX | AdvanSix Inc. | Basic Materials | 2.89% | $417.71M |
| 71 | VALE | Vale S.A. | Basic Materials | 2.72% | $51.07B |
| 72 | CTVA | Corteva, Inc. | Basic Materials | 2.55% | $7.97B |
| 73 | NEXA | Nexa Resources S.A. | Basic Materials | 2.51% | $1.54B |
| 74 | MOS | The Mosaic Company | Basic Materials | 2.21% | $5.63B |
| 75 | EQX | Equinox Gold Corp. | Basic Materials | 2.10% | $11.73B |
| 76 | HCC | Warrior Met Coal, Inc. | Basic Materials | 2.05% | $4.50B |
| 77 | MEOH | Methanex Corporation | Basic Materials | 1.99% | $4.98B |
| 78 | SCL | Stepan Company | Basic Materials | 1.99% | $1.47B |
| 79 | SSL | Sasol Limited | Basic Materials | 1.88% | $11.17B |
| 80 | CENX | Century Aluminum Company | Basic Materials | 1.84% | $3.15B |
| 81 | ICL | ICL Group Ltd | Basic Materials | 1.82% | $6.16B |
| 82 | TX | Ternium S.A. | Basic Materials | 1.80% | $10.99B |
| 83 | AVNT | Avient Corporation | Basic Materials | 1.36% | $3.79B |
| 84 | PKX | POSCO Holdings Inc. | Basic Materials | 1.09% | $15.31B |
| 85 | JHX | James Hardie Industries plc | Basic Materials | 0.76% | $15.11B |
| 86 | WS | Worthington Steel, Inc. | Basic Materials | 0.38% | $2.11B |
No companies match this search.
How this ranking is built
Companies are ranked by return on assets as reported in their most recent annual filing with the SEC. Figures shown are in US dollars (or percent, as noted), rounded to two decimals.
- Source: annual 10-K / 20-F filings from companies trading on US exchanges (NYSE, Nasdaq, AMEX).
- Fiscal year: whichever annual period the company has most recently filed. Fiscal years don't always align with the calendar year, so the "as of FY" stamp above reflects the most common year across the table.
- Filtered out: warrants, preferred shares, and duplicate listings that share a parent company's financials.
- Size floor: A company qualifies at $1 billion in annual revenue or above, so a small filer with a freak ratio cannot top the list.
- Value range: Only figures above 0% and up to 100% qualify.
- Update cadence: refreshed as companies file new annual reports (typically within 60–90 days of fiscal year end).
Not financial advice. This is a research tool, not a recommendation.
Frequently asked questions
Why can a resource-rich miner show an unremarkable return on assets?
Because the resource itself is largely missing from the denominator until it is developed. Exploration costs are often expensed and undeveloped deposits are carried at little or nothing, so the balance sheet reflects the plant built so far rather than everything the company controls. The ratio then measures the working part of the business. Reserve disclosures and mine life sit outside the financial statements and complete the picture.
How does the commodity cycle affect this ranking?
Strongly. Metal and mineral prices set revenue while the asset base barely moves, so returns peak near the top of a price cycle and collapse near the bottom for the same company with the same mines. A ranking taken in one year is partly a ranking of who was exposed to the strongest commodity. Comparing each company with its own history across cycles gives a fairer reading.