How quickly things change.

Less than 12 months ago lithium stocks were in the proverbial crapper. Sentiment is now at all-time highs, thanks to increasingly aggressive EV targets, rising lithium prices, and the growing sense there isn’t enough supply to go around.

JP Morgan’s recent recommendation ‘just buy the lot!’ (paraphrased) just adds fuel to an already white-hot fire.

Over the past month almost every stock on our list finishes handily in the green:

CODE COMPANY 1 DAY RETURN % 1 WEEK RETURN % 1 MONTH RETURN % 6 MONTH RETURN % 1YEAR RETURN % PRICE MARKET CAP
VUL Vulcan Energy 1 33 85 113 2620 15.37 $ 1,654,226,108.73
LKE Lake Resources 4 9 79 108 1771 0.655 $ 686,244,716.01
SYA Sayona Mining 17 41 44 270 1341 0.14 $ 670,469,619.48
JRL Jindalee Resources -1 17 62 130 857 3.86 $ 208,275,467.40
PLL Piedmont Lithium -3 19 -4 20 826 0.88 $ 520,239,793.00
CXO Core Lithium -1 27 80 53 780 0.405 $ 481,388,074.14
GLN Galan Lithium 0 5 32 151 726 1.28 $ 313,987,402.24
LTR Liontown Resources -1 5 16 128 684 0.98 $ 1,874,371,511.40
PLS Pilbara Minerals -2 17 61 154 569 2.4 $ 7,108,631,292.00
EMH European Metals -1 13 28 40 552 1.955 $ 257,582,090.70
ASN Anson Resources -4 29 57 17 450 0.11 $ 102,839,628.83
INR Ioneer -1 13 34 15 395 0.495 $ 952,098,450.50
GXY Galaxy Resources -1 15 49 124 357 5.59 $ 2,857,033,398.20
NMT Neometals -2 14 58 98 349 0.83 $ 466,119,936.60
ARN Aldoro Resources 5 4 34 75 340 0.55 $ 42,502,623.98
AVZ AVZ Minerals 2 25 32 22 291 0.25 $ 788,452,306.60
FFX Firefinch 1 43 44 119 245 0.57 $ 514,318,350.79
LPD Lepidico 5 10 92 -8 229 0.023 $ 135,345,813.81
AGY Argosy Minerals 3 21 67 0 213 0.175 $ 212,546,189.68
ORE Orocobre -1 16 49 102 212 9.85 $ 3,416,008,762.24
HWK Hawkstone Mining 19 47 67 25 150 0.05 $ 89,650,000.00
PSC Prospect Resources -1 -1 33 100 148 0.36 $ 139,986,090.28
RLC Reedy Lagoon 16 38 29 -24 144 0.022 $ 8,930,497.15
LIT Lithium Australia 3 20 25 -3 121 0.15 $ 139,477,929.77
MIN Mineral Resources -1 -3 4 63 111 59.69 $ 11,382,667,074.42
ESS Essential Metals -4 48 105 79 105 0.215 $ 53,459,392.50
IGO IGO 0 2 19 50 104 9.75 $ 7,406,079,211.14
EUR European Lithium 15 40 61 26 88 0.0885 $ 71,913,041.51
LPI Lithium Power International 0 19 62 10 84 0.34 $ 102,366,363.26
TNG TNG Limited 13 18 35 -6 15 0.085 $ 93,712,278.00
INF Infinity Lithium 0 -1 -18 -60 7 0.099 $ 39,888,541.04
AJM Altura Mining 0 0 0 0 0 0.07 $ 209,037,029.25
AAJ Aruma Resources 9 65 32 -9 -4 0.086 $ 8,370,913.23
ADV Ardiden 17 75 75 -33 -7 0.014 $ 25,792,250.59
CHR Charger Metals 28 165 240 0.73 $ 18,240,000.57
LEL Lithium Energy 3 46 100 0.7 $ 30,600,000.00
BMM Balkan Mining and Minerals 17 22 89 0.705 $ 19,662,500.00
GL1 Global Lithium 11 58 58 0.41 $ 32,921,081.52
PAM Pan Asia Metals -3 16 42 3 0.185 $ 10,195,142.36
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The only losers – Piedmont (ASX:PLL) and Infinity (ASX:INF) – need to win some jurisdictional battles to get their respective projects back on track.

12-month movements are even more pronounced. Check out this list of standout winners over the past year:

Vulcan Energy (ASX:VUL) +2620%

Lake Resources (ASX:LKE) +1771%

Sayona Mining (ASX:SYA) +1341%

Jindalee Resources (ASX:JRL) +857

Piedmont Lithium (ASX:PLL) +826%

Core Lithium (ASX:CXO) +780%

Galan Lithium (ASX:GLN) +726%

Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR) +684%

Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) +569%

Big numbers. Again, just two stocks are in the red over the past 12 months.

We asked the punters — are ASX lithium stock valuations overheated, or does upside remain?

A clear winner emerged.

What do the lithium experts think?

WARWICK GRIGOR

Chairman, Far East Capital

“They have run very hard, especially the leaders.

“When stocks move like this, I invariably find they overshoot. So even if they have run too hard, they could still go further.

“I think a sensible person would be taking at least some profits.”

 

GAVIN WENDT

Senior Resources Analyst, MineLife

“Lithium companies are currently being driven by market exuberance, which aligns directly with an underlying surge in lithium prices.

“At some stage market, valuations will run likely run ahead of fundamentals, which means that a correction will be on the cards.

“Ultimately, investors will want to see the sector high-flyers turn their production promise into reality, via project financing and offtake agreements etc.”

 

GUY LE PAGE

Director, RM Corporate Finance

“I think they are pretty stretched, and upside is going to be very much stock specific.”

 

DAVIDE BOSIO

WA State Manager, Shaw and Partners

“The lithium price is very strong now, and the thematic around green energy is only getting stronger.

“I just don’t see that theme ever going away.

“Fundamentally you have tailwinds really supporting the sector, but investors should probably be little bit more selective now.

“There are some projects out there that are poor in terms of grade, and poor in terms of location and infrastructure.

“In a normal pricing environment, it will be the low-cost projects that remain and make money.”

 

JOHN SO

Co-founder, VP Capital

“Just my personal view. I think in the long run, the ones that are producing or have a clear pathway to production (financing, permitting etc) will hold up as long as the commodity undersupply persists, which is what’s being forecasted in the industry at the moment and somewhat reflected in a recovery of commodity prices.

“For companies with a less clear pathway to production (eg still early stage explorers or undertaking conceptual plans), they’re more likely to retreat once the commodity cycle stagnates or moves the other way.

“With that said, there is probably more momentum in the very short-term.”

 

TRENT PRIMMER

Head of trading, Barclay Pearce Capital

“I would say that there is more room to run in the lithium sector.

“I think, in general, battery metals have more to run as focus on electric vehicles and renewable energy in the future increase considerably and the market adopts a comfortability with the renewable energy and clean technology sectors.”

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