It's turning out to be a bit of a disappointing session for ASX shares this Wednesday. After opening strong this morning, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has descended into negative territory as the afternoon has worn on, currently down by around 0.06%. But let's talk about what's going on with the Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) share price.
Just like the ASX 200, Pilbara shares are having a wild day. This leading ASX 200 lithium stock has also spent time in both positive and negative territory this Wednesday. At present, Pilbara is up a rosy 0.69% at $2.18 a share. However, earlier today, those same shares got as low as $2.13 each.
That might not seem too significant at first glance. However, that $2.13 share price marks a significant milestone for Pilbara.
For one, it's a new 52-week low for the lithium company, capping off what has been an exceptionally tough year. As it currently stands, the Pilbara share price has now lost just over 45% year to date in 2024. The company is also down 45.2% since this time last year, and almost 60% from its last peak of over $5.40 a share that we last saw in late 2022.
But additionally, today's new 52-week low is also the lowest we've seen PIlbara shares trade at in years. The last time this stock had a $2.13 price tag in front of it was two-and-a-half years ago, back in June 2022.
Check all of this out for yourself below:
So how did this once high-flying company get here?
Why is the Pilbara share price at a multi-year low today?
To be fair, most ASX lithium shares have had a rough year in 2024. This can mostly be put down to falling lithium prices, although these have hit some companies harder than others.
However, Pilbara's own numbers have weighed on the company's shares too, with rising costs seeming to cause investors particular concern.
We covered Pilbara's latest quarterly earnings report back in October. As we went through at the time, this report revealed a 31% drop in revenues for the quarter compared to the previous quarter. Lithium production, sales volumes, and realised prices also fell, but Pilbara's costs rose.
So you can probably understand why this company has been on investors' bad books for the past few months.
However, things might be looking up for Pilbara, if the experts are to be believed anyway.
Earlier this week, my Fool colleague James reported that ASX broker Bell Potter has upgraded its outlook on the Pilbara share price. The broker raised its rating on Pilbara shares to 'buy', and gave the company a 12-month share price target of $2.95. That implies a potential upside of 35% if realised.
Bell Potter argues that lithium prices should recover over 2025. Given Pilbara's sizeable balance sheet, it views the company as undervalued at current pricing.
No doubt Pilbara's suffering shareholders will find that outlook comforting. But let's see what happens next year.
