NuScale's Revenue Plunged 99% Last Quarter, But the Stock Has Gained 1% So Far. Here's What Investors Need to Know.

Yesterday, Aug. 5, NuScale Power (NYSE:SMR) reported what, on the surface, looked like a brutal quarter. Its net loss came in at about $50 million, while its second-quarter revenue sank 99%, from roughly $8 million reported a year ago to about $75,000. It’s the kind of quarterly report that can sink a stock at market open.

And yet, as of this writing at about 10:45 a.m. ET, NuScale was up nearly 1%.

What kind of wizardry sends a nuclear energy stock higher after a revenue collapse of nearly 99%? None, really. Truth be told, it’s a reflection of a company whose value has almost nothing to do with what it earns today. And, despite the ugly losses, NuScale gave investors reasons to keep believing in its future business. Let’s take a look.

NuScale’s revenue collapse isn’t as bad as it looks.

First, let’s put that 99% revenue decline into context.

Really, it’s not what you think. Last year, NuScale reported $8.1 million, largely from services connected with the RoPower project in Romania. That was one-time work, now completed, and it now looks therefore lumpy. The same thing happened in its Q1 2026 update, when it reported $0.6 million, down from $13.4 million a year prior.

The bigger news that came out of this second-quarter update, I think, was a statement by President and CEO John Hopkins -- or a reminder, really -- that NuScale is “ready to deploy.” Indeed, for much of his presentation, Hopkins focused on the over 60 suppliers that make up NuScale’s supply chain. These include Paragon, which supplies the module protection system, and Honeywell (NASDAQ:HON), which supplies parts for the reactor’s control systems.

In focusing on these suppliers, NuScale was emphasizing its readiness to deploy. It’s like the company was saying: True, we haven’t deployed a reactor for a power plant yet. But don’t forget who we are and where we stand: We’re not a start-up clawing our way through the NRC’s certification process. We have our NRC certificate, we have our suppliers, and we have the manufacturing foundation to put our design into concrete and steel.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Slow progress can be smart progress

“Well, so what?” you might retort. Tomorrow is not today, and NuScale has had an NRC-approved SMR design since 2023. Where are the power plants? The deployment timeline? The PPAs?

Yes, the absence of a definitive PPA -- especially for the potential TVA project being developed through ENTRA1 -- was somewhat disappointing. If ENTRA1 signs a PPA with TVA, which would involve purchasing electricity generated by as many as 72 NuScale modules, NuScale would gain something it still conspicuously lacks: a binding commercial contract for its technology at an enormous scale.

I don’t want to diminish the importance of a first solid customer. At the same time, I also don’t want to understate the importance of a safe, functional reactor. Hopkins puts it well:

This is not a story about nuclear being hard to build. It is a story about what happens when you start construction without a mature, detailed design. NuScale has spent years deliberately applying the hard lessons of past large-scale nuclear projects. We've made significant, sustained investment so that when we go to market, the engineering is as complete as possible.

Slow but steady, as they say, wins the race. This deliberate progress from one of the most advanced SMR companies in the U.S. helps explain why NuScale stock can rise even while quarterly revenue falls. It’s also why NuScale investors today have to buy the stock with a timeline of years and decades, not quarters. For those with that kind of patience and risk tolerance, adding a few shares of NuScale to a diversified portfolio could be worthwhile.

Steven Porrello has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Honeywell Technologies. The Motley Fool recommends NuScale Power. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.