Why Oklo Stock Went From a December Slump to a January Moonshot

After a stunning rally for most of 2025, Oklo (NYSE: OKLO) stock gave up substantial gains in the last quarter of the year as investors took some profits off the table. The nuclear energy stock plummeted 46% between just November and December, including a 21.5% fall in the last month of the year, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Less than two weeks into the new year, though, and Oklo has already flipped the switch.

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Why Oklo stock slumped in December

Oklo's meteoric rise of over 700% by mid-October 2025, fueled by the Trump administration's nuclear push, hit a wall as investors paused to digest whether the stock had moved up too much, too fast.

In early December, Oklo also announced a $1.5 billion at-the-market equity offering, which would allow it to sell shares at its discretion from time to time. The reality of capital raises through stock sales and potential share dilution from a pre-revenue company rattled investors.

Later in the month, Jim Cramer, the host of CNBC's Mad Money television show, a former hedge fund manager, and an investor, further stoked fears by advising a caller on the show to sell Oklo stock.

A wave of profit-taking sent shares tumbling as 2025 drew to a close. The tide, however, has turned sharply, with Oklo stock surging nearly 46% in the first two weeks of 2026, following two major announcements.

Why Oklo stock is breaking out in 2026

Tech giant Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) has signed Oklo to develop a massive 1.2-gigawatt power campus in Ohio to support Meta's AI data centers.

Oklo is building fast-fission nuclear energy plants called Aurora powerhouses. Meta will provide several billion dollars in funding to Oklo to develop them at the site, with pre-construction slated to begin this year and the first power expected to come online in 2030. So, through Oklo, Meta is essentially investing in power infrastructure to support a reliable grid for the region. For Oklo, the billions will help it kick-start the construction of nuclear powerhouses without worrying about financial constraints.

In another major milestone, the Department of Energy (DOE) signed an agreement with Oklo to design, construct, and operate a radioisotope pilot plant under the DOE's reactor pilot program. Radioisotopes are widely used in medicine, especially for cancer therapy, imaging, and research.

The U.S. currently depends heavily on imports for critical radioisotopes. The DOE's pilot project with Oklo is a crucial first step to scale up domestic production of radioisotopes.

This partnership also validates the significance that Oklo's business can hold beyond just generating power. Fast-fission nuclear power plants can also run on repurposed fuel, which is another major competitive advantage for Oklo. The company is already taking the lead in building nuclear fuel facilities and won safety approval from the DOE in December, allowing it to begin assembling a facility that will produce fuel for its first nuclear reactors.

Oklo isn't just hype. It has secured several significant partnerships and collaborations and is working on multiple DEO pilot programs. Oklo appears to be the kind of stock that can be a long-term winner, provided you can stomach the volatility along the way.

Neha Chamaria has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.