SYDNEY, June 17, 2026, 08:04 (AEST)
- Liontown ended Tuesday at A$2.05, falling 8.5%. The stock had risen in the last two sessions.
- The S&P/ASX 200 finished little changed as the Reserve Bank of Australia kept rates steady at 4.35%. Lithium prices eased.
- Liontown is set to report its June-quarter results on July 28.
Liontown Ltd shares look set for more pressure on Wednesday on the ASX. The stock dropped 8.5% on Tuesday as investors reduced positions in lithium after a sharp rally earlier this month.
Liontown shares have been a quick play on battery-materials sentiment. The stock jumped 9.8% Friday and added 2.8% Monday. Then on Tuesday, it fell, with around 24.5 million shares changing hands, according to StockAnalysis data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
ASX cash market was still in pre-open at the time of writing. Trading is set to start just before 10 a.m. in Sydney and continues until 4 p.m., the exchange’s schedule shows.
The S&P/ASX 200 finished 0.04% higher at 8,917.70 on Tuesday. The RBA kept its cash rate at 4.35% and said more hikes could come if inflation doesn’t come down. The rest of the market was mostly flat.
Lithium carbonate prices slipped again. The refined battery chemical dropped 0.9% to 169,000 yuan per tonne on June 16, and is down 11.8% this month, Trading Economics data showed. Still, prices remain well above where they were a year ago.
Pilbara Minerals dropped 4.5% to A$6.19, while Core Lithium gave up 8.3% at A$0.28. Mineral Resources was down 0.9% to A$70.79. That’s as per Google Finance data from Tuesday’s close. The selling wasn’t limited to Liontown.
Liontown hasn’t posted any new ASX announcements in the last 24 to 48 hours. The most recent on its site is a May 5 investor presentation, plus April updates on the March quarter and Kathleen Valley expansion. Right now, price action, lithium prices and positioning are driving the near-term story.
Liontown last reported its best financial quarter since starting production, with the March quarter showing A$33 million in positive net cash and A$424 million on hand by quarter-end. The company booked A$197 million in revenue from selling spodumene concentrate, which is the lithium-rich mineral product sold by hard-rock miners ahead of further processing into battery chemicals. Bulls pointed to these numbers as reasons to stay positive.
Liontown Managing Director and CEO Tony Ottaviano said in the update the company is generating positive net cash flow and remains “on track to meet” its FY2026 guidance.
Kathleen Valley in Western Australia is still the main focus for the company. Liontown reports a mineral resource of 150 million tonnes at 1.33% lithium oxide, and says the asset has a mine life expected to top 20 years. Initial plans for the site are set up for 500,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate per year.
The risks are clear. Liontown’s all-in sustaining cost climbed 18% from the previous quarter to A$1,251 per dry metric tonne sold for the March quarter. The company said it is reviewing FY2027 costs, citing fuel, geopolitics and expansion factors. A steeper fall in lithium prices or a more expensive expansion would challenge a stock that remains well up over the past year.
