Materials
Materials sector: regime, opportunity and risk scores, industry rankings, signals, leading stocks and ETFs, and the weekly brief.
Materials at a glance
Materials (XLB) is in a Bullish regime with a Bull/Bear score of +100, ranked 6 of 11 on opportunity (57/100) with moderate risk. It is improving against the S&P 500: +2.1% over 1 month and +2.0% over 3 months; 63% of its 24 stocks are above their 200-day average.
Industries
| Rank | Industry | Signal | Opportunity | 3 months | Leaders |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Containers/Packaging | Bullish | 73 | +5.0% | AMCR, PKG, BALL |
| 2 | Chemicals: Specialty | Bullish | 65 | +5.4% | ECL, APD, LYB |
| 3 | Other Materials | Improving | 57 | +4.2% | IFF, NUE, AVY |
| 4 | Construction Materials | Bearish | 18 | −7.7% | VMC, MLM, CRH |
Leading stocks
- IFF – International Flavors & Fragrances, Inc. (Food: Specialty/Candy): Bullish, 3 months +27.5%
- PKG – Packaging Corporation of America (Containers/Packaging): Bullish, 3 months +5.8%
- APD – Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (Chemicals: Specialty): Bullish, 3 months +4.2%
- AVY – Avery Dennison Corporation (Pulp & Paper): Bullish, 3 months +16.8%
- NUE – Nucor Corporation (Steel): Bullish, 3 months +6.5%
- ECL – Ecolab Inc. (Chemicals: Specialty): Bullish, 3 months +9.4%
What drives Materials
Industrial metals, chemicals, construction demand. Bullish indicators: Copper and industrial demand strengthen; construction/manufacturing orders recover. Bearish indicators: Commodity demand contracts; manufacturing weakens; producer margins deteriorate.
Source: Sonsero Sectors weekly snapshot 2026-10-25 (market data from TradingView). Scores, regimes and signals are rules-based descriptions of market conditions, not investment advice.