Is NuScale Power a Millionaire Maker?
Key Points
NuScale notched a 15% gain on Sept. 8, despite no major announcements or news.
NuScale still has no operating commercial reactor.
At a roughly $4.8 billion valuation, turning a modest investment into $1 million would require an extraordinarily large future market cap.
- 10 stocks we like better than NuScale Power ›
On Sept. 8, NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR) had one of its best days on the market in a long time. The small modular reactor (SMR) developer notched an incredible 15% gain, bringing its year-to-date loss down to about 21%.
There was no big news, no updates, and no significant announcements. As has been the case with nuclear energy stocks tied to data centers and the larger AI story, NuScale grew on sector-wide enthusiasm alone.
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
That said, NuScale stock does not appear to be a millionaire maker right now, at least not for most investors.
NuScale is in the business of making nuclear reactors, which have brutal up-front costs. Reactor fuel, specialized manufacturing, and engineering work can all melt through cash even before a plant starts producing power.
NuScale's reactors, to be sure, are small and modular; that means they should be cheaper and faster to build than larger power plants. That said, for NuScale to achieve its best reactor economics, it needs to scale up reactors, and to date, it hasn't built one for a customer.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Even if NuScale can eventually build reactors at scale, I doubt its profits will be sufficient to support a megacap valuation.
Today, NuScale carries a roughly $4.8 billion market cap despite generating almost no revenue. A $10,000 investment would need a 100-fold gain to become $1 million, while $1,000 would need a 1,000-fold gain. The former would bring NuScale to a $480 billion valuation, while the latter would bring NuScale to a $4.8 trillion valuation. Both seem highly unlikely to me.
The average price target on NuScale is $12.6, implying very small gains (if any at all) in the near future. Investors interested in NuScale should approach it with modest expectations or revisit the stock after it has inked a firm first sale of its SMR.
Should you buy stock in NuScale Power right now?
Before you buy stock in NuScale Power, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and NuScale Power wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $417,413!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,341,294!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 950% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 210% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
See the 10 stocks »
*Stock Advisor returns as of September 12, 2026.
Steven Porrello has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends NuScale Power. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Recommended Articles
