The Basic Materials sector today
How the Basic Materials sector stands against its own history and against the 500 largest US companies. We do not say where it goes next.
Close of Friday 6 November 2026 · updated every trading day
120 US companies of $300 million or more · $1.36T in total
ValuationWe compare today's value with every month since 2006. The usual range holds the middle 40% of those months. The marks show the value 1 month, 1 year and 5 years ago.
Prices against profits, sales and dividends
Price to earnings (P/E)What this measures: the total market value of the companies divided by their total profit of the last 12 months. Companies that lose money count too.
How high are prices against profits?
Higher than usual
High · higher than in 7 of 10 months since 2006
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Last 10 yearsEach point is one month. The dot is today.
Price to sales (P/S)What this measures: the total market value of the companies divided by their total sales of the last 12 months.
How high are prices against sales?
Far higher than usual
High · higher than in 9 of 10 months since 2006
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Last 10 yearsEach point is one month. The dot is today.
Dividend yieldWhat this measures: the dividends of the last 12 months divided by the total market value, in percent. A low yield goes with high prices.
How much do the companies pay in dividends for their price?
In the usual range
Normal · lower than in 7 of 10 months since 2006
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Last 10 yearsEach point is one month. The dot is today.
Returns
How did the sector do against the 500 largest US companies?
| Period | This sector | 500 largest | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 month | +0.1% | −1.4% | 1.5 pts more |
| 1 year | +20.2% | +9.9% | 10.3 pts more |
| 5 years | +47.8% | +65.7% | 17.8 pts less |
Total returns with dividends, weighted by market value, to the close of October 2026. Past results do not show future results.
Largest companies
The three largest companies
- 01Southern Copper CorporationSCCO10.5% of the sector
- 02Newmont CorporationNEM9.3% of the sector
- 03Freeport-McMoRan Inc.FCX6.3% of the sector
Show all 10
- 04Ecolab Inc.ECL6.2% of the sector
- 05The Sherwin-Williams CompanySHW6.1% of the sector
- 06Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.APD5.0% of the sector
- 07Nucor CorporationNUE4.1% of the sector
- 08AngloGold Ashanti plcAU3.5% of the sector
- 09Vulcan Materials CompanyVMC2.7% of the sector
- 10Steel Dynamics, Inc.STLD2.3% of the sector
Map
Its companies among the 500 largest
The map shows the sector's companies among the 500 largest US companies: 19 of its 120 companies.
