Tianqi Lithium Corporation (09696) advanced more than 3%, climbing 3.27% to HK$58.5 by the time of writing, with a trading turnover of HK$517 million. The uptick follows an earnings forecast from Ganfeng Lithium Group Co.,Ltd., which anticipates a net profit attributable to shareholders of 1.6 to 2.1 billion yuan for the first quarter of 2026, marking a turnaround from a loss in the same period last year. Notably, even the lower end of this projected net profit approaches the full-year earnings for 2025. According to a Citigroup research report, Ganfeng Lithium's strong first-quarter performance was primarily driven by a sharp increase in average selling prices, with the average price of lithium carbonate reaching 154,000 yuan per ton during the period, a 75% rise quarter-on-quarter. Concurrently, downstream battery demand remains robust. Given the strong actual demand and unpredictable supply disruptions, the report suggests that lithium prices face significant upside risks.