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Best-Performing Lithium Stocks for May 2026

Looking for lithium stocks? Check out our list of the top performers.

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Managing Editor

Pamela de la Fuente is a managing editor of NerdWallet's personal finance content. She leads budgeting, money-making, consumer credit and and debt coverage.

Ask her and her talented team about why credit scores matter, how to save money on your grocery bill, finding the right side hustle, how to protect your identity for free and more.

Previously, she led taxes and retirement coverage at NerdWallet.

Pamela joined NerdWallet after working at companies including Hallmark Cards, Sprint Corp. and The Kansas City Star. She has been a writer and editor for more than 20 years.

Pamela is a thought leader in content diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, and finds ways to make every piece of content conversational and accessible to all.

She is a graduate of the Maynard Institute's Maynard 200 program, and the National Association of Black Journalists Executive Leadership Academy. She is a two-time winner of the Kansas City Association of Black Journalists' President's Award. She was also founding co-chair of NerdWallet's Nerds of Color employee resource group.

What are lithium stocks?

Lithium stocks are publicly traded companies involved in mining, processing or working with lithium, a critical material for manufacturing batteries used in laptops, cell phones and electric vehicles (EVs). With demand for all of these products surging, so is the demand for lithium.

Best lithium stocks

Below are the best-performing lithium stocks that are members of the Solactive Global Lithium Index and trade on major U.S. exchanges, ordered by one-year performance.

In order to buy lithium stocks, you’ll need a brokerage account. Check out our roundup of the best online brokers for stock trading to find the right brokerage firm for you.

The best-performing lithium & EV battery stock by one-year return is Albemarle Corp (ALB), which is up 218.39%.

Ticker

Company

Performance (Year)

ALB

Albemarle Corp

218.39%

SQM

Sociedad Quimica Y Minera de Chile SA ADR

170.62%

SGML

Sigma Lithium Corp

161.70%

ENS

Enersys

133.67%

LAC

Lithium Americas Corp (NewCo)

87.03%

Source: Finviz. Data is current as of May 4, 2026, and is intended for informational purposes only.

Lithium stock ETFs

Picking individual lithium stocks can be fairly risky. But investing in a lithium stock-heavy exchange-traded fund (ETF), can give your portfolio exposure to lithium with less risk. Lithium ETFs include a basket of stocks related to the lithium industry. One of these ETFs is the Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF (LIT). LIT invests in companies that span the lithium production cycle, such as mining, refining and battery production.

» MORE: How to invest in ETFs

If you want complete control over which companies you’re investing in, individual stocks, while riskier, may be more attractive to you.

Brokerage firms

on Charles Schwab's website

on E*TRADE's website

on Vanguard's website

on Fidelity's website

Learn more

Best EV Stocks

Best-Performing Small-Cap ETFs

How to Buy Rivian Stock (RIVN)

Helpful resources