One of the best performers on the market today has been the Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) share price.
At the time of writing the lithium miner's shares are up almost 6% to an all-time high of 94 cents. This brings its three-month return to a staggering 135%.
Why are its shares on fire?
Investors have been fighting to get hold of Pilbara Minerals' shares thanks to the bullish global outlook on lithium carbonate prices.
With a number of governments across the world intent on banning the sale and manufacture of internal combustion engine vehicles in the not so distant future, electric vehicle adoption is expected to grow significantly.
And with lithium supply failing to keep up with demand already and all known future supply unlikely to change this in the next few years, miners like Pilbara Minerals look set to profit greatly from the high prices for the element for some time to come.
Another catalyst for its strong share price gain has been its off-take agreement with Great Wall Motor Company which comprises 75,000tpa of chemical grade spodumene concentrate over an initial five-year term.
The automaker paid A$28 million via an equity subscription and has the option to secure a further 75,000tpa of Stage 2 off-take by providing Pilbara with US$50 million of debt financing for its Stage 2 expansion
Is it too late to buy shares?
While I wouldn't be a seller of its shares if I owed them, I wouldn't necessarily be a buyer of its shares today.
Like fellow lithium miners Galaxy Resources Limited (ASX: GXY) and Orocobre Limited (ASX: ORE), I think Pilbara Minerals has rallied to what I would deem to be fair value.
In light of this, I would class it and its peers as holds and suggest investors wait for a pullback before making an investment. After which I think it would be a great buy and hold investment.