It was another positive week for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) last week. The benchmark index rose 1% or 68.3 points to end the period at 7,063.5 points.
While a good number of shares climbed higher with the market, some stood out with particularly strong gains. Here's why these were the best performing ASX 200 shares last week:
Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P)
The Zip share price was the best performer on the ASX 200 last week with a 12.9% gain. Investors were fighting to get hold of the buy now pay later (BNPL) provider's shares following the release of a very strong third quarter update. For the three months ended 31 March, Zip posted an 80% increase in group quarterly revenue to $114.4 million. This was driven by a 195% increase in transaction numbers to 12.4 million and a 114% jump in quarterly transaction volume to $1.6 billion. Also supporting its growth was another jump in customers. At the end of the period, Zip had 6.4 million active customers globally. This was up 88% from the prior corresponding period and 12.3% from 5.7 million at the end of December.
Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)
The Pilbara Minerals share price wasn't far behind with a 12.1% gain over the five days. This appears to have been driven by a bullish broker note out of Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG). That notes reveals that the broker has upgraded its lithium price forecasts by between 30% and 100% for the next four years after reassessing the outlook for the battery making ingredient. Macquarie suspects that electric vehicle demand could put the lithium market into a deficit in 2022, with material shortages emerging from 2025. In light of this, Macquarie put an outperform rating and $1.30 price target on Pilbara Minerals shares.
Pendal Group Ltd (ASX: PDL)
The Pendal share price was on form and charged 9.7% higher last week. Investors were buying the fund manager's shares following the release of its latest funds under management (FUM) update. According to the release, Pendal reported a 4.4% or $4.3 billion increase in FUM during the March quarter. This left the company with total FUM of $101.7 billion.
Resolute Mining Limited (ASX: RSG)
The Resolute share price bounced back from a horror run and rose 8.4% over the five days. The catalyst for this was news that the Ghanaian government has restored the mining licence for the Bibiani Gold Mine. However, the government has done this on the proviso that Resolute cancels the sale of the operation to Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining. Resolute has agreed to these terms and will now look at its options for the mine.
