The PLS Group Ltd (ASX: PLS) share price has soared 150% in the past year, as the chart below shows. Excitingly for shareholders, it has been one of the top-performing S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shares in the last 12 months.
The ASX lithium share recently reported its FY26 first-half result which included strong growth in a number of important metrics.
PLS Group reported that sales volume increased by 7% to 446kt and the realised price soared 40% to US$965 per tonne. Its unit operating cost (CIF) reduced by 6% to A$682 per tonne.
On the profitability side of things, PLS Group revenue grew 47% to $624 million, underlying operating profit (EBITDA) jumped 241% to $253 million and net profit jumped 147% to $33 million.
Image source: Getty Images
Is the PLS Group a buy in March?
We're going to look at what analysts think of the ASX lithium share.
According to CMC Invest, of the analysts monitored, there have been 13 analyst ratings on PLS Group shares in the last three months.
Of those ratings, six of them are buy ratings, six are hold ratings and there is one sell rating.
However, the price targets are not as optimistic as the ratings themselves, which may make sense considering the PLS Group share price has risen by 24% since 20 February 2026.
A price target is where analysts think the share price will be in 12 months from the time of the investment call.
According to CMC Invest, the average price target on the ASX lithium share is $4.62, suggesting it could decline by 11% over the next year.
On the optimistic side of things, the highest price target is $5.60, which translates into a possible rise of 8% in the next year, if that positive view turns into reality.
However, on the negative side of things, the most pessimistic price target is $2.50. That suggests a possible decline of 52% over the next year. But, the other 12 analysts aren't suggesting that outcome will happen.
Why buy the ASX lithium share?
UBS has a buy rating on the PLS Group share price, with a price target of $4.95. The broker explained why it rated the business as a buy (soon after seeing the result) because it was bullish on the lithium cycle and the production growth outlook for the ASX lithium share:
FY26 guidance for 820-870kt was retained (UBSe 875kt) and we forecast FY27 at ~1.1mt with the addition of Ngangaju. Our NPV-based Price Target is trimmed marginally (-1%) to A$4.95/sh, after including slightly higher growth capex but we retain our Buy rating as we remain bullish on the lithium cycle and the production growth outlook for PLS.
While spodumene pricing has recovered to ~US$2,000/t already, we are bullish [on] demand (BESS) and agree with PLS that the supply response takes time. We can see prices moving even higher from here and model a price 2x consensus a year from now. Continued strength in the price could see attention focus once again on long term assumptions which may have been cut too hard during [the] last down cycle.
