The Piedmont Lithium Inc (ASX: PLL) share price is part of an exclusive club of positive returners today. Shareholders would be rejoicing at the sight of their holdings showing insulated characteristics from the rest of the beaten-down market.
In afternoon trade, shares in the lithium hopeful are touting a 3.9% gain to 94.5 cents. Although, anything other than negative returns is a breath of fresh air right now. Even the broad S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is 2.46% worse off than yesterday.
So, why is the Piedmont Lithium share price holding up in the face of this adversity?
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Playing catch-up
A number of ASX-listed lithium shares have been going gangbusters over the past month. The optimism for the battery material has been reverberating in the ears of investors recently. Consequently, shares in many lithium companies have flown higher despite a still shaky environment.
One example of the positive projections was reported by fellow Motley Fool writer, Tristan Harrison. The article detailed how Barrenjoey — a major broker — is forecasting a potential rise of 86% in the lithium price over the next two years.
Furthermore, Pilbara Minerals has experienced a tremendous surge following its incredible full-year result. Since releasing its FY22 numbers, the Pilbara Minerals share price has exploded by 42%. Whereas, the Piedmont Lithium share price has been more subdued.
As shown above, shares in Piedmont Lithium have started to reignite. However, there is still a clear delineation between the performance of Pilbara Minerals and Piedmont.
Though, it is worth mentioning, that Piedmont is yet to draw revenue from its operations. Nevertheless, investors seem to be content with ignoring the market turbulence today to bid the Piedmont Lithium share price higher.
Piedmont Lithium share price in 2022
While unprofitable ASX tech shares have been ravaged by rising inflation and interest rates, some loss-making lithium companies appear to have dodged the damage.
So far this year, the Piedmont Lithium share price has returned an impressive 22%. Considering the benchmark index is down nearly 10%, Piedmont's performance is commendable by any stretch of the imagination.
The company currently holds a market capitalisation of $1.66 billion.
