The Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) share price increased by almost 4% today. The gain means that shares in the lithium miner have gone up by more than 20% since 15 March 2022.
The Pilbara Minerals share price has seen a lot of volatility since the start of 2022. It's only down by 12% in the 2022 calendar year right now. However, it was down 33% from the 2022 high in January to the mid-March low.
While Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) and Pilbara Minerals are different businesses, it may be worth noting the electric vehicle maker has also seen a very sharp recovery of its share price in the last week or so. Since 14 March 2022, the Tesla share price has climbed by around 30%.
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What's going on with the Pilbara Minerals share price?
There hasn't been any official news out of the company since it released its FY22 half-year result a month ago.
However, lithium prices have been climbing this year.
Pilbara Minerals said that since the end of its half-year, pricing has continued to increase, with price reporting agencies indicating spot spodumene concentrate (lithium) prices in the range of US$3,750 to US$4,500 per dry metric tonne.
In the half-year period, Pilbara Minerals achieved an average selling price of around US$1,250 per dry metric tonne, so there has been a substantial increase.
The broker Macquarie thinks there's more upside to the Pilbara Minerals share price, with a price target of $3.50 and a buy rating. That implies an upside of more than 10%. Macquarie thought the impending loss of Pilbara Minerals CEO Ken Brinsden was a negative, but the high lithium price is helpful to the thesis.
