Stock Market Today, Jan. 9: NuScale Power Jumps After Bank of America Upgrade

NuScale Power (NYSE:SMR), a developer of small modular reactor (SMR) technology for carbon-free power generation, closed Friday at $20.52, up 4.3%. NuScale Power IPO'd in 2022 and has grown 104% since going public. Trading volume reached 49.3 million shares, coming in about 87% above versus its three-month average of 26.3 million shares.

Friday's session saw investors responding to a Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) rating upgrade for NuScale Power and tracking how nuclear power demand is evolving for AI data centers.

How the markets moved today

The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX:^GSPC) added 0.64% to finish at 6,966, while the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX:^IXIC) climbed 0.81% to close at 23,671. Among Nuclear Power industry peers, GE Aerospace (NYSE:GE) gained 2.27% and BWX Technologies (NYSE:BWXT) rose 4.28%, highlighting renewed interest in small modular reactor growth prospects.

What this means for investors

Market watchers have been focusing on the increasing power needs for the growing data center projects to support AI training and inference. NuScale wants to lead the way with its SMR solution. Today, Bank of America analysts upgraded the company, assigning a $28 per share price target.

That represents 36.5% upside from today's closing price. A nuclear power solution to fill data center demand has gained momentum, but NuScale's reactors aren't a near-term solution.

NuScale is still a promising nuclear stock to monitor. High options activity today also contributed to the high volume, though. No fundamental news from the company was released today, and investors should be aware that options activity sometimes drives stocks in both directions.

Bank of America is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Howard Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends BWX Technologies and GE Aerospace. The Motley Fool recommends NuScale Power. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.