Global Demand for This Industrial Stock May Be About to Soar

The current conflict in the Middle East and the resulting closure of the Strait of Hormuz is, to put it mildly, a huge problem.

About 20% of all global oil supplies pass through the strait, and other options to move the oil and gas produced in the Persian Gulf are limited. The closure also affects some of the world's largest economies.

Japan imports 57% of its oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz. South Korea imports 55%, India 50%, Taiwan 40%, and China 35%.

Now, all of those countries had been investing in their nuclear power capacity before the current conflict broke out.

Since 2015, Japan has been steadily reactivating its nuclear reactor fleet and reducing its dependence on oil and gas.

South Korea has plans for two new nuclear reactors, which will be brought online by 2038.

India has eight reactors under construction right now and China had a staggering 33 being built as of mid-2025.

But I think the throttling of the Strait of Hormuz has made a very good case for achieving a higher degree of energy independence.

After all, if it can be avoided, why would any government want the source of such a vital resource at the mercy of geopolitical tensions thousands of miles away?

That's precisely where Cameco (NYSE: CCJ) comes in.

Image source: Getty Images.

The fuel of the future

All those reactors will need one resource to run: uranium.

And Canada's Cameco is the world's second-largest uranium miner. It was responsible for 15% of all the world's uranium produced in 2025.

The company owns some of the highest-grade uranium mines in the world in McArthur River/Key Lake and Cigar Lake. They are the world's largest high-grade uranium mine and one of the world's highest-grade uranium mines, respectively.

Uranium from those mines will be going to fuel India's reactors. In early March, Cameco signed a 22 million-pound uranium supply agreement with India that will see the country supplied by Cameco from 2027 to 2035.

And the company profits from China's nuclear build-out through its 49% stake in Westinghouse, an engineering company that produces the AP1000, the most advanced commercially available nuclear reactor in the world.

China currently has four AP1000 reactors in operation and 14 of its 33 reactors under construction are AP1000s. The United States has two AP1000s in operation, with 10 planned, and India has selected six AP1000s for the next stage of its nuclear build-out.

Between its uranium production and the advanced reactors it can profit from through Westinghouse (to make no mention of its fuel production operations), Cameco is well suited to profit, not only from the U.S. Department of Energy's goal to triple America's nuclear capacity by 2050, but from Asia's nuclear renaissance as well.

The company's latest results make the case very clearly as well.

For 2025, its revenue climbed 10% over 2024 to $3.48 billion, and its adjusted net earnings per share (EPS) shot up 114%.

The current conflict in the Middle East has laid bare the fragility of modern energy markets, and it's no surprise countries around the world are looking to find a more stable power source.

Cameco is one of the best ways to play that trend, in 2026 and beyond.

James Hires has positions in Cameco. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Cameco. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.