Been looking back at some older market moves and noticed something interesting about basic materials stocks from a few years ago. There was this whole period where commodity plays were absolutely crushing it, especially with inflation running hot. Steel producers like Nucor were printing money, but the real question was always whether you were overpaying at the peak.

That said, even when the easy money started drying up, there were still some solid opportunities hiding in the basic materials sector if you looked deeper. Let me break down three that caught attention back then.

First up was Hawkins, this chemical products company that basically supplied half the industrial world - water treatment plants, food manufacturers, research labs, you name it. The earnings growth was pretty wild, jumping from $1.33 per share back in 2020 to expectations of $3.40 by their fiscal 2024. That's 155% growth over five years. Stock had already run up 52% that year but was still trading at reasonable valuations around 16.9X forward earnings, basically in line with the industry.

Then there was PPG Industries, the coatings and paints company. They were forecasting 24% earnings growth to $7.51 per share, with another 10% expected the following year. What made it interesting from a value perspective was their PEG ratio sitting around 1.03 - basically at that sweet spot under 1.0 where growth doesn't feel overpriced. At 18.2X forward earnings, you weren't getting gouged on valuation while picking up meaningful expansion.

The third one was Livent, the lithium chemicals producer. This was the most compelling on paper because the stock was still trading near 52-week lows despite massive earnings potential. They were projecting 53% earnings growth with revenue expected to jump 33% that year alone. Trading at just 10.2X forward earnings, it looked genuinely cheap relative to the growth runway ahead, especially with electric vehicles starting to ramp.

Looking at these basic materials stocks together, the common thread was that they all offered something real - not just cyclical commodity plays, but companies with actual demand drivers and reasonable valuations. Whether it was chemical supply chains, industrial coatings, or battery materials, these weren't speculative bets. The risk-reward setup made sense if you had a medium-term horizon and could stomach some volatility in the sector.