Update from 01.2020: It should be fixed with https://github.com/Polymer/lit-element/pull/712
If undefined returned from render method of LitElement during the first render of the component and then lit-html TemplateResult is returned with some css classes (styles are defined in styles static getter method), these styles are not applied.
There is a simple JSFiddle to reproduce this issue.
If render method returns lit-html TemplateResult after first render of component, then <style> tag exists in shadow DOM.

If render method returns undefined after first render, <style> tag is missed in shadow DOM and never added even if lit-html TemplateResult in next render call.

For Chrome it works fine. The issue reproduces for Safari and Firefox.
UPDATE: It should be fixed with https://github.com/Polymer/lit-element/pull/712
