This Nuclear Stock Controls the Only Large Reactor Manufacturing Facility in North America, and Its Backlog Grew 50% in 2025. Time to Buy?

BWX Technologies (NYSE: BWXT), an American engineering and manufacturing company that serves the defense and nuclear energy markets, claims to be the "only large, commercial nuclear equipment manufacturing facility in North America."

BWX isn't the only company that provides end-to-end manufacturing services for nuclear reactor components. However, it's certainly one of the largest producers of specialized nuclear components, fuel systems, and naval reactor systems, and a bellwether of the nuclear market.

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BWX is also one of the few companies licensed to work with regulated nuclear materials, handle high-assay enriched uranium (HALEU) and tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) fuel, operate large precision nuclear fabrication facilities, and produce naval reactor components for the U.S. Navy. Its facilities are widely considered irreplaceable parts of the nuclear supply chain. BWX's stock has nearly doubled over the past 12 months, but could it keep rising?

Why are investors bullish on BWX Technologies?

BWX was spun off from Babcock & Wilcox (NYSE: BW) in 2025. The Fukushima disaster in 2011 generated fierce headwinds for the broader nuclear market, as many governments throttled or paused their nuclear projects. Still, BWX weathered that slowdown better than its peers by generating more revenue from the defense sector.

From 2021 to 2025, its revenue and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) grew at CAGRs of 11% and 8%, respectively. That growth was fueled by the Navy's increased production of nuclear submarines, the resurgent commercial nuclear market, its growing uranium processing business, and two major acquisitions in 2025. It also began providing engineering support services to small modular reactor (SMR) producers.

BWX ended 2025 with a backlog of $7.3 billion. That was up 50% from a year earlier, driven by the soaring demand for naval propulsion components, commercial nuclear power components, and special materials. Its fledgling SMR business should also benefit from the rapid growth of the power-hungry cloud infrastructure, artificial intelligence (AI), and data center markets.

From 2025 to 2028, analysts expect BWX's revenue and adjusted EBITDA to grow at CAGRs of 13% and 12%, respectively. With an enterprise value of $20 billion, it might not seem like a bargain at 31 times this year's adjusted EBITDA -- but its market dominance, pricing power, and growing backlog could justify that higher valuation. Its forward yield of 0.5% won't attract any serious income investors, but its low payout ratio of 27% gives it plenty of room for future hikes.

Leo Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends BWX Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.