Shares in Cobalt Blue Holdings Ltd (ASX: COB) are tracking 1.2% higher on Friday and now trade at 81.5 cents apiece.
Despite the gain, Cobalt Blue shares have crept almost 2% into the red this past month of trade, and have slipped from a former high of $1.03 cents in April.
In broader ASX market moves, the S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) has spiked 160 basis points today while the S&P/ASX 300 Metals & Mining Index (ASX: XMM) is up 177 basis points.
Is the party nearly over?
That's a big call, particularly as the company has clipped a 64% gain this year to date while a plethora of ASX stocks has taken an absolute beating in the same time.
Not only that, but the price of cobalt remains buoyant and is still hovering around multi-year highs, despite cooling off in recent weeks.
Cobalt currently trades at US$75,000 per tonne, down from US$82,000/tonne earlier this month.
Demand has remained high for the metal that's integral to the development of batteries for electric vehicles.
As noted in Trading Economics, cobalt futures were "hovering above the US$80,000 per tonne level in May, their highest since June 2018 and up 16% this year and around amid continued strong demand from the electric vehicle sector".
Research from the website also suggests that cobalt was "expected to trade at US$76,117.50 per tonne by the end of this quarter", according to Trading Economics global macro models and analyst expectations.
Despite a cooling off in the Cobalt Blue share price, it doesn't appear as if the party's ending for the specialist miner, as there just isn't the evidence to support the fact right now.
If it were, then we'd have to question the status of the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO). It has barely managed to prevent a 350 basis point slide so far in 2022, even with a small relief rally from May.
A bit more on Cobalt Blue shares
Cobalt Blue shares have surged more than 136% into the green these past 12 months. They reached a 52-week closing high of $1.03 per share on 4 April.
They've since levelled off but are still up 64% this year to date.
The company's share price movement over the past 12 months is plotted on the chart below.
