Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) shares kicked off the new financial year (1 July) trading for 94 cents apiece.
In early morning trade today, shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) lithium stock are swapping hands for $1.42 apiece.
The company doesn't, as yet, pay any dividends as it works towards first lithium production.
Meaning if I'd bought $5,000 of Core Lithium shares at the start of FY23 I'd be sitting on $7,553 and change today.
A handy $2,553 in less than five months.
That's a heck of a lot better than the slightly improved interest I've been earning from my cash deposit account. Though investing in shares does come with significantly more risk, as shares can certainly post losses as well as gains.
So, how have Core Lithium shares managed to march 51% higher with more than half the new financial year yet to go?
What's driving ASX 200 investor interest in the lithium stock?
Core Lithium has been a major beneficiary of soaring demand for lithium.
Prices for lithium carbonate have more than doubled over the calendar year as EV makers scramble to secure supplies of the lightweight, conductive metal, a critical component in the batteries that power their vehicles.
Investors have been snapping up Core Lithium shares with an eye on the company's Finniss Project, located near port of Darwin in the Northern Territory. That project is expected to deliver its first lithium production within the coming months.
The Australian federal government has already awarded Finnis with Major Project Status. And, according to Core Lithium, Finnis is one of the most capital efficient lithium projects and the most advanced lithium project on the ASX.
How have Core Lithium shares been tracking longer-term?
We know investors who bought Core Lithium shares on the first day of the new financial year are sitting on gains of 51% today.
But investors with telescopic foresight who bought shares five years ago will have bagged a gain of… wait for it…1,186%.
