Is NuScale Power the Smartest Investment You Can Make Today?

Shares of NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR) are back on the rise. Following a 50% decline that began with the new year, the nuclear reactor stock has spiked nearly 30% in value over the past two weeks.

NuScale's story won't be written over a matter of weeks, or even months. The company is targeting what some experts believe will be a $10 trillion global opportunity due to rising electricity demand from artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and a resurgence of interest in nuclear energy.

Even after the recent run, NuScale stock remains 75% cheaper than its all-time highs set last summer. Is this growth stock -- with its small modular reactors -- the smartest investment you can make today? The answer may either be yes or no, depending on the answer to the question below.

When will SMR technology take off?

There's no question that NuScale has a tremendous growth opportunity. "Capital is pouring into data center development, but there are real constraints on growth," said a recent report from McKinsey & Co. What's the biggest growth constraint? "Incumbents can't meet demand for power," the report says.

Data centers are energy intensive because of what they're asked to do. The rapid and continuous explosion of AI technologies requires these data centers to run intensive, computationally complex processes nearly without pause. That requires huge amounts of energy not only to power the computing, but also to cool down the GPUs to maintain efficiency and longevity.

The current electric grid isn't designed for the amounts of demand growth year after year. From 2000 to 2020, for instance, electricity demand in the U.S. barely budged. So, new sources of energy will be needed to fuel the ongoing AI revolution and global data center build-out. Nuclear power is an ideal antidote, but large conventional nuclear plants can take a decade or more to get on line.

NuScale's small modular reactors (SMRs), at least on paper, can be deployed much faster with lower initial costs, without sacrificing the ability to scale up generation capacity down the line. In short, NuScale's SMR technology could be a key enabler of the AI economy. There's just one problem for investors: timing.

Image source: Getty Images

NuScale has never successfully commercialized an SMR system. As such, its revenue remains minimal. Last year, the company reported just $31.5 million in sales, with a net loss of roughly $355 million -- more than $100 million greater than the year before. To cover the financial gap, management was forced to sell 39.3 million shares during the fourth quarter of 2025, generating $750 million in capital.

Over the past 12 months, total shares outstanding have more than doubled. That follows years of additional shareholder dilution -- a trend that investors should expect to continue.

It will likely be years until the company gets its first SMR on line. Even if successful, the accumulated shareholder dilution may be too heavy to outpace with true growth. So while NuScale Power is a promising long-term choice, investors must decide what they think the company's execution timeline will be. That will dictate how smart an investment NuScale Power is today.

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