S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shares are in the green on Thursday, up 0.12% at 8,602.3 points.
In this article, three experts deliver their verdicts on three ASX 200 shares in the materials sector.
ASX 200 materials shares: 2 are a buy, 1 is a sell
Lynas Resources Ltd (ASX: LYC)
Courtesy of The Bull, Michael Gable of Fairmont Equities sees plenty of tailwinds for this ASX 200 rare earths share.
Gable points out that the Lynas share price has had a strong run already in 2025.
The stock has risen from $6.53 on 2 January to $8.81, up 2.44%, at the time of writing.
Gable said:
This rare earths miner should continue to outperform as the US looks to diversify its supply of these metals away from China.
LYC is the largest producer of rare earths outside of China and is already negotiating deals with the US Government to secure supply.
Gable expects Lynas Rare Earths shares to eventually go above $11 per share, which is where they were trading back in January 2022.
Amcor CDI (ASX: AMC)
When we think about the ASX 200 materials sector, we naturally think of Australia's big mining stocks first.
But there are many other types of companies in the sector, including packaging businesses like Amcor.
Amcor specialises in global packaging solutions for consumer and healthcare products.
Jed Richards of Shaw and Partners says Amcor shares are a buy.
Richards comments:
This packaging giant generated solid earnings and showed resilience across global markets in its latest results ending March 31, 2025.
A recent dividend yield above 5 per cent, supported by consistent quarterly payouts, is appealing.
Demand for Amcor's packaging solutions remains robust in response to growing online shopping across the globe.
Consequently, it reinforces long term growth potential, in our view.
The Amcor share price is currently $14.05, down 1.16%.
Orora Ltd (ASX: ORA)
Orora is another ASX 200 packaging company. It was spun out of Amcor back in 2013.
The business designs, manufactures, and decorates glass bottles and aluminium cans.
Gable has Orora shares on his sell list.
He says the stock price has been "in a downtrend for the past three years".
The Orora share price has fallen from $3.61 on 13 June 2022 to $1.83 today.
Gable said:
Earnings guidance had previously been downgraded due to volatile sales and higher costs.
Now, there's further earnings uncertainty due to potential tariffs with the US.
Broker targets are lower, and we believe this will add further selling pressure to the stock.
