The Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) share price has been pushing higher this month.
Since the start of July, the lithium miner's shares have risen 12% to $2.58.
Can the Pilbara Minerals share price keep rising?
If one leading broker is on the money with its recommendation, there could still be plenty of room for the Pilbara Minerals share price to climb even higher from here.
According to a recent note out of Citi, its analysts have retained their buy rating and $3.20 price target on the company's shares.
Based on the current Pilbara Minerals share price, this implies potential upside of 24% for investors over the next 12 months.
What is the broker saying about this lithium share?
Overall, Citi was pleased with the company's recent quarterly update. While costs were higher than expected, the company's production was strong.
And with lithium prices remaining strong, the broker believes Pilbara Minerals is well-placed to generate significant free cash flow.
The broker commented:
Preliminary JunQ production was better than we'd expected albeit at a higher cost. Including letters of credit, PLS expects to end June with A$850m on the balance sheet. With spodumene prices remaining strong at +US$6000/t, investors can look through higher C1 costs of ~US$380-460/t.
The fact that management can get cost guidance ~30% out of the money in the space of 2 months shows just how hard cost inflation is biting.
FID for the P680 project was expected; new news is the bring-forward of crushing capacity for the P1000. We've pushed back our expansion timeline six months & moved total P1000 capex to the upper end. We stay at Buy. TP now A$3.20/sh. There's a growth story here supported by expectations of +13% FCF in FY23.
