Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) shares have been on form again over the last 12 months.
During this time, the lithium miner's shares have risen 19%, as you can see on the chart below.
This means that if you had invested $10,000 in September 2022, you would have seen your investment grow to be worth almost $12,000.
But that was the last 12 months, what about now?
Investing $10,000 into Pilbara Minerals shares
A number of brokers believe that investors could get a nice return on investment from this lithium miner's shares.
For example, the team at Morgans has an add rating and a $5.60 price target on its shares. This implies a potential upside of just over 19% and, much like above, would turn a $10,000 investment into almost $12,000.
Last month, the broker commented:
PLS reported a record $2.4bn profit (+326% YoY) and production guidance for FY24 was largely in-line with consensus. Nevertheless the share price fell 8% with guidance for capital expenditure ~40% more than expectations. We think this reaction is overblown given that ~$180m of the guided growth capital will support the next expansion to 1Mtpa capacity. The company's ROIC is expected to remain well above its WACC for the foreseeable future.
Over at Macquarie, its analysts believe that even greater returns are on offer with Pilbara Minerals shares over the next 12 months. Its analysts currently have an outperform rating and lofty $7.30 price target on them.
This suggests a potential upside of just over 55% for investors and would turn a $10,000 investment into approximately $15,500.
Are there any bears?
It would be remiss of me to not highlight that not everyone believes the Pilbara Minerals share price will be heading higher from here.
Morgan Stanley, for example, remains bearish and has an underweight rating and a $3.75 price target on its shares.
This implies a potential downside of 20% from current levels. If Pilbara Minerals shares were to fall by this amount, it would turn your $10,000 investment into $8,000.
Overall, investors may want to consider the various potential outcomes and weigh up the risk/reward before pressing the buy button.
