Oklo vs. NuScale: Which One Actually Has Paying Customers Lined Up?
Key Points
Oklo and NuScale Power have reached various regulatory milestones, but neither company has exited the pre-revenue stage.
Both stocks trade at valuations that price in future growth as a near certainty.
Even if you're bullish on this trend, consider waiting for more favorable entry points before buying either stock.
- 10 stocks we like better than NuScale Power ›
Oklo (NYSE: OKLO) and NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR) remain two of the most popular nuclear energy stocks. However, there's a good reason why excitement about both companies has waned in the past year. Neither company has made much progress exiting the pre-revenue stage.
Oklo remains years away from commercialization
Oklo continues to announce major progress with its various projects. For instance, over the past month, the company has entered the testing stage for its Groves Isotope Test Reactor in Texas. Last month, the company announced progress on its Aurora project in southern Illinois by signing a nuclear fuel supply deal.
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Still, commercialization remains years away. Analyst estimates call for revenue of just $1.1 million this year and $5.7 million in 2027. Compare that to Oklo's nearly $7 billion market cap, which seemingly bakes in future potential as a near certainty.
Oklo is also burning through hundreds of millions in cash each quarter, leaning on dilutive equity raises to shore up its balance sheet. After raising $1.2 billion from the sale of newly issued shares earlier this year, it could tap this funding source again.
Image source: Getty Images.
NuScale Power is also running behind
NuScale Power specializes in developing small modular reactors (SMRs). In 2024 and 2025, investors were very bullish on this nuclear technology start-up, given the potential of its SMRs to provide a scalable source of clean energy for artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.
Flash forward to now, however, and NuScale has fallen out of favor. While Oklo shares are down over 47.5% in the past year, NuScale has tumbled by nearly 84%. While NuScale already has Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approval to build SMRs, commercialization also appears, at best, to be many years away.
Most proposed commercial uses of NuScale's SMR technology remain in the negotiation stage. However, with a $3 billion market cap, investors have to pay up today for potential growth tomorrow. NuScale faces similar cash burn and dilution risks as Oklo.
Put simply, with advanced nuclear technology years away from the payoff stage, there's no rush to buy either Oklo or NuScale.
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Thomas Niel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends NuScale Power. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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