NuScale Power's stock price has plunged nearly 40% over the past three months.
President Donald Trump issued executive orders last May meant to spur growth in the nuclear energy industry.
Shares of NuScale Power benefited from President Trump's orders, but only temporarily.
At the forefront of the nuclear renaissance currently underway in the U.S., NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR) has been a standout on the radar of growth investors. Over the past three months, however, investors have taken a more bearish stance, sending shares down by 46% as of Nov. 21.
But what happens when you expand the time frame beyond the past three months to the past year? Let's examine the performance of the shares of this specialist in small modular reactors and see how investors who invested $100 a year ago have fared.
Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »
Image source: Getty Images.
After slipping lower in the last two months of 2024, NuScale Power stock failed to recover through the first few months of 2025. In late May, however, President Donald Trump announced executive orders saying that it was now U.S. policy "to expedite and promote to the fullest possible extent the production and operation of nuclear energy." As a result, share prices of NuScale Power soared, as did a variety of other nuclear energy stocks.
Although management hasn't reported anything troubling lately, investors have pared back their positions over the past few weeks, as the company has lost some of the luster it had just a few months ago.
Overall, its stock has vastly underperformed the market over the past year despite its strong performance in the spring. While the S&P 500 has jumped 11.4% since this time last year, NuScale stock has plummeted 29% during the same time period. Consequently, those who purchased $100 in stock one year ago have seen their positions shrink to $70.90.
It's still early in the nuclear energy renaissance, so to speculate that NuScale Power is no longer a viable growth option is hardly reasonable. Since there's bound to be more volatility in the coming months with the stock, though, those wary of risk may prefer investing in a nuclear energy exchange-traded fund.
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 $562,536!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,096,510!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 981% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 187% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
See the 10 stocks »
*Stock Advisor returns as of November 17, 2025
Scott Levine has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends NuScale Power. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.