Is Oklo a Buy, Sell, or Hold in 2026?

Oklo (NYSE: OKLO) is an intriguing stock.

It sits at the crossroads of several big trends in nuclear power and tech, namely small modular reactors (SMRs) and their potential to solve the power problems created by artificial intelligence (AI).

It's also working on liquid-metal reactors, which use molten lead or sodium as a coolant. Note, Oklo's specifically are sodium-based. That sounds counterintuitive but in some ways it's actually safer than water because they can handle higher temperatures at lower pressure than conventional water-cooled reactors. Though, they aren't with their problems. Liquid sodium is much more corrosive than water, for instance.

Finally, the company is working on an up to $1.68 billion nuclear fuel plant in Oak Ridge Tennessee. It has also partnered with the Air Force to put one of its Aurora small liquid-cooled reactors at the Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska.

Despite all of that though, Oklo is not a buy for 2026, and given that it has tumbled considerably from its peak of $174 late last year, it might be a sell. Let's get into it.

Potential energy, flawed reaction

The problem with Oklo isn't its technology, it's the company's financials -- or rather the total lack thereof.

Right now, Oklo generates no revenue whatsoever and is entirely dependent upon investor dollars and lines of credit. A lack of profitability can easily be forgiven if a company is growing its revenue regularly and getting closer to profitability, but Oklo doesn't have any money coming in from its own business.

In the company's latest quarter, the third quarter of 2025, the company had a net loss of $29.7 million, and it expanded its total debt position to $1.9 million. Now, Oklo did grow its cash position 346.7% to $410 million as of the end of Q3 2025, but its free cash flow for the quarter fell 188.8% to negative $23 million.

Image source: Getty Images.

This is not to say that Oklo will never be worth a look as a potential stock to add to your portfolio. Its technology is incredible and if it can begin generating revenue from it then I think it could emerge as a serious contender in the SMR industry.

But as it stands, other SMR companies like BWX Technologies, Rolls-Royce, and NuScale are all generating revenue either from consulting contracts to build their small reactors in the case of NuScale or through another sector of their business like naval propulsion systems for BWX and jet engines for Rolls-Royce.

None of those companies are working on liquid-metal reactors, but they do either have SMR projects underway or prototypes in the works. And given their financial strength compared to Oklo, they make much more compelling potential investments due to their relative safety.

So, due to its lack of revenue and competitors that have much better financial footing, Oklo is not a buy for 2026 by my math. And it might even be a sell if its share price decline hasn't stalled out at the current $65 per share.

James Hires has positions in BWX Technologies. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends BWX Technologies. The Motley Fool recommends NuScale Power and Rolls-Royce Plc. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.