Allkem Ltd (ASX: AKE) shares have had a difficult time over the last 12 months.
Despite receiving a merger proposal from Livent Corp (NYSE: LTHM), the lithium miner's shares are down approximately 25% since this time last year. This can be seen on the chart below.
While that is disappointing, a few leading brokers appear to see this as a buying opportunity.
In fact, if you were to invest $10,000 into Allkem shares today, these brokers think you could do very well for yourself over the next 12 months.
Investing $10,000 into Allkem shares
Firstly, with the Allkem share price currently fetching $11.78, we would end up with 849 units if we were to invest $10,000 into the lithium miner.
According to a recent note out of Goldman Sachs, despite being bearish on lithium prices, its analysts have a buy rating and a $17.20 price target on its shares. If they were to rise to this level, our 849 Allkem shares would have a market value of $14,602.80. That's a return of approximately $4,600 on our original investment.
The team at Bell Potter is even more bullish. Its analysts currently have a buy rating and a $19 price target on its shares. Were the Allkem share price to climb to that level, our shares would be worth a cool $16,131. That's a gain of $6,131 on our investment.
Finally, analysts at Macquarie currently have an outperform rating and a $19.60 price target on its shares. This suggests that our 849 units could be worth $16,640.40 by this time next year. Not bad if you ask me!
However, it is worth remembering that lithium shares are very volatile. And with lithium prices recently pulling back, investor sentiment isn't overly strong in the industry right now. So, these returns are far from guaranteed.
