The Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) share price is having a stellar finish to the week,
In morning trade, the lithium giant's shares are up 8% to $4.35.
Why is the Pilbara Minerals share price rocketing higher?
Investors have been scrambling to buy this lithium miner's shares following the release of its quarterly update.
That update was filled with positives, with production, sales volumes, lithium prices, and unit costs all heading in the right direction quarter on quarter.
For example, for the three months ended 31 December, Pilbara Minerals delivered a 10% quarter on quarter increase in spodumene concentrate to 162,151 dry metric tonnes (dmt) with a unit operating cost of A$579 per dmt.
The latter was down 5% from the previous quarter and is lower than its full year guidance range of A$635 to A$700 dmt.
And with the company benefiting from a combination of stronger market pricing and improved pricing outcomes with offtake customers, it reported spodumene concentrate sales of A$1.135 billion for the period.
This lifted the company's cash balance from $1.375 billion at the end of September to A$2.226 billion at the end of December.
Broker response
Brokers have responded positively to the update. Macquarie, for example, notes that Pilbara Minerals' production and shipments came in ahead of its estimates.
This has led to Macquarie reiterating its outperform rating and $7.50 price target. This implies potential upside of 72% for the Pilbara Minerals share price even after today's solid gain.
Elsewhere, the team at Citi was also pleased with the company's performance.
It believes that Pilbara Minerals will easily achieve its full year production guidance following the strong quarter. The broker also highlights the company's impressive cash generation, commenting that it is "in harvest mode, banking another circa A$850 million."
In response, the broker has retained its buy rating and lifted its price target to $4.80.
