SMR Developer Holtec Just Cancelled Its IPO. Should NuScale Power and Oklo Investors Panic?

An exciting new nuclear stock, Holtec International, was supposed to debut on public markets this week in an IPO expected to raise around $900 million. It would have been one of the largest nuclear energy IPOs of 2026.

On Sept. 16, Holtec's CEO officially scrapped the IPO. According to the Financial Times, "the IPO had been suspended because of the market's sharp turn against the AI data centre economy in the past few weeks."

"It's like a perfect storm," Holtec's CEO explained. "Our business, rightly or wrongly, is viewed as connected to it [data centres]. We provide nuclear power. So that was, of course, a big factor in market sentiment against nuclear."

Importantly, Holtec is not a developer of nuclear energy systems. Its mostly a supplier of nuclear components, including specialized containers to store nuclear waste. But the company intended to use its IPO proceeds to support a strategy pivot. The new focus would seek to restart a mothballed nuclear facility in Michigan as well as pursue the development of small modular reactors, or SMRs.

SMR stocks such as Oklo Inc. (NYSE:OKLO) and NuScale Power (NYSE:SMR) have struggled mightily this year. Oklo shares are down nearly 50% this year, with NuScale stock dropping around 45%.

Does Holtec's cancelled IPO portend more bad news for Oklo and NuScale? There are two important things to keep in mind.

1. Holtec expects to attempt another IPO

Holtec hasn't completely dropped its plans to go public. According to the Financial Times, the company expects to "retain its IPO registration and could try to float again within three to six months, depending on market conditions."

That's because the main driver for renewed interest in nuclear power -- namely, the AI industry's rapidly rising demands for low-carbon baseload power -- isn't going away anytime soon. McKinsey & Co. predicts $7 trillion will be deployed globally to build energy-intensive AI data centers by 2030.

Market sentiment for SMR stocks in particular has waned in 2026. But last year, both Oklo and NuScale Power shares hit all-time highs. If and when SMR enthusiasm returns, expect Holtec to renew its IPO interest.

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2. Government support for SMRs is rising

Small modular reactors have received several positive updates this month regarding government support.

In early September, the European Investment Bank (EIB) -- the lending arm of the European Union -- announced a €40 million loan to Steady Energy, an SMR developer based in Finland. According to reports, the EIB expects to make more loans to SMR developers in the future.

Then, on Sept. 16, the U.S. House of Representatives pass the Ratepayer Protection Act. The measure passed in a landslide: 417 votes to 3. In essence, the act requires large energy users such as data centers to pay for their power needs versus spreading the rate increase across all of a utility's users. This shifts more of the cost burden to data center operators, increasing the attractiveness of dedicated, independent power sources such as SMRs.

Oklo's strategy of pitching directly to AI and data center companies should benefit more than NuScale's focus on delivering power through existing utilities. But the move sent both stocks higher by roughly 10% after the news was announced.

Holtec's shelved IPO creates reason for concern. But SMR stocks received equally positive news this week, tempering any cause for panic.

Ryan Vanzo has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends NuScale Power. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.