The Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) share price has been down in the dumps this year. Indeed, the ASX lithium stock plummeted to a new 52-week low of just 80.5 cents on Tuesday.
It finished yesterday's session trading at 82 cents, leaving it down 19% year to date and 33% over the last 12 months.
Fortunately, it's back in the green today. The Core Lithium share price is up 1.8% at the time of writing, trading at 83.5 cents.
For comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has traded flat so far this year.
Has the ASX 200 lithium hopeful's recent suffering brought about a buying opportunity? Let's take a look.
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Are Core Lithium shares priced cheap?
Two top brokers are divided when it comes to their expectations for the Core Lithium share price. Though, the stock is currently trading for less than even their most bearish prediction.
Let's start with the bull. Broker Macquarie is optimistic about the lithium up-and-comer, my Fool colleague James reported earlier this month.
It slapped the stock with an outperform rating, tipping it to surge 80% from its current price to trade at $1.50.
The broker's latest forecast came on the back of a resource upgrade at the company's flagship Finniss Lithium Project. Its BP33 deposit's mineral resource estimate was more than doubled to 10.1 million tonnes at 1.48% lithium oxide, with more growth still on the cards at the project.
But the upgrade didn't convince another top broker.
Goldman Sachs retained its sell rating and 90 cent share price target on Core Lithium following the release. Though, that still represents a potential 7.8% upside.
It noted the deposit's upgrade only boosted the project's total mineral resource estimate by between 20% to 30%, while more than half of the extra resources are more than 400 metres deep. The broker continued:
A significant increase to the updated resource base remains required to underpin fundamental valuation, in our view, where new developments are unlikely to come online in time to benefit from the current pricing environment.
While the Core Lithium share price has struggled in recent months, it's still well and truly in the longer-term green. The stock has gained more than 1,200% since 2018.
