PERTH, June 22, 2026, 04:07 AWST
- Liontown closed at A$1.98 on Friday, dropping 2.9% for the day and 9.2% from last Friday.
- About 70.3 million shares traded hands, nearly 3.4 times what the stock usually sees over four weeks.
- Analyst 12-month price targets for the stock go from A$0.70 up to A$2.90. Views on where it trades are split.
Liontown Limited shares face the new week in Australia after a tough stretch. The stock finished Friday at A$1.98, off 2.9% for the day and down around 9.2% for the week. Volume was over three times the recent average.
That’s notable underperformance. The S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3% this week, but Liontown’s investor page still shows its May 5 conference as the most recent update. The stock dropped even though there was no new operating news from the company.
ASX materials names slid 4.03% on Friday, tracking losses across miners. Most commodity-linked shares sold off. Liontown was down for the week even before Friday’s slump.
PLS Group shares dropped 4.7% on Friday, sliding 9.8% this week. A benchmark tracking Chinese battery-grade lithium carbonate is down 10.3% for the month through June 18. That signals part of the big rebound in lithium for producers is starting to fade.
The drop comes after Bell Potter’s Stuart Howe reiterated his buy on the stock last week, lifting his 12-month target to A$2.90 from A$2.65, following an update to spodumene prices. That’s around 46% above where shares finished on Friday. On the other hand, Investing.com’s poll of 11 analysts has the average target at A$2.12, with a neutral consensus.
Liontown posted a 51% jump in March-quarter revenue from the previous period, hitting A$197 million. Kathleen Valley produced 96,367 dry metric tonnes of spodumene concentrate, measured without moisture, selling to chemical processors.
Chief Executive Tony Ottaviano said in April, “Liontown is generating positive net cash flow” and the group was “on track to meet the FY2026 guidance we set the market.” But average lithium recovery was 61% for the quarter. All-in sustaining cost, which covers production and ongoing capex, jumped 18% to A$1,251 per tonne sold. Any drop in lithium prices, delays in recovery improvement or higher costs would cut into cash margins.
Expansion spending puts more pressure on delivery. Liontown has begun some early work and started procurement at Kathleen Valley. Spending could reach A$77 million before the final investment decision, which the company expects by the end of Q1 fiscal 2027. CEO Ottaviano called the expansion “the most value-accretive growth available to Liontown.” Liontown hasn’t published its final capital or operating cost estimate yet.
S&P/ASX 200’s latest index changes start before trading Monday, but Liontown isn’t included in the list of five stocks set to join or leave. No new filings from the company over the weekend. This week, focus remains on lithium prices, flows, and if Kathleen Valley can keep up recent plant recovery gains.
Valuation remains the key problem. Liontown has turned quarterly cash positive as realised lithium prices improved, but the stock still needs to show better recovery rates and lower unit costs. Heavy trading on Friday pointed to investors holding off on betting the case is closed.
