ASX lithium shares were the darling child of the commodity sector throughout FY22, with prices for the battery metal reaching all-time highs.
Despite a bearish note from Goldman Sachs on its outlook for lithium, prices have remained buoyant. Plus, there's still talk of lithium demand outweighing supply for some time into the future.
Below is a graph showing some of the best and worst-performing ASX lithium shares of FY22.
Let's consider them more closely.
Core Lithium (ASX: CXO)
The Core Lithium share price was one of the ASX's top performers in FY22, posting a triple-digit gain.
The company executed a binding agreement with the electric vehicle juggernaut Tesla last financial year, driving investors' interest in the share.
The agreement sees Core supply 110,000 tonnes of lithium spodumene concentrate to Tesla from the company's Finnis project in Northern Territory.
Core Lithium also received final assays from the Finnis project in May and advised that resource drilling had commenced at tenements on the site.
The share has traded down in recent weeks but has still managed to record a 289% gain for the past 12 months.
Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)
Shares of Pilbara Minerals were also strong performers in FY22. The company's quarterly results were a standout, with Pilbara noting it had upped production by 54% over the three months to June 2022.
Moreover, its recent Battery Metals Exchange (BMX) saw a lithium price of US$7,000 per dry metric tonne in a digital auction.
This was underscored by strong demand and a "continued healthy outlook into the foreseeable future", Pilbara management noted.
The share has a buy rating from Ord Minnett, with its analysts valuing Pilbara Minerals shares at $3.50 each. That's a healthy 48% upside on today's closing price of $2.36.
IGO Ltd (ASX: IGO)
Diversified miner IGO saw substantial gains in FY22 but these were pared back towards the end of the financial year.
The company's share price reached a 52-week high of $15 on 4 April and has been trending lower ever since.
After completing its Western Areas Transaction, investors were still keen to sell the company's shares. They now trade back in line with September 2021 levels.
As such, the IGO share price is down 15% year to date after a bullish run in FY22.
Despite this, it still remains 14% higher for the past 12 months and is well above the returns of the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) which dropped around 10%.
Analysts at Macquarie reckon IGO is a buy and value the company at $17 per share. That's well above its closing price today of $9.72.
Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN)
At the other end of the spectrum, Mineral Resources left investors searching for more in FY22. The company's share price started the year at $63.01 and ended at around $46.
It's trading down 25% in the past 12 months with its most recent downtrend starting on 30 May.
Following the release of the bearish note on the lithium industry from Goldman Sachs, many lithium shares – including Mineral Resources – were swept away.
Gains quickly dried up in the sector but several players were able to either withstand or recover from the slump.
Yet, for Mineral Resources, not so much. It continued to trade south and hasn't regained support since.
It is down 22% in the past month, extending its losses to 21% this year to date.
