3 Nuclear Stocks to Buy With $2,000 After One Fell 83%

Shares of NuScale Power (NYSE:SMR) trade around $9.63 as of this writing, down about 83% from their $57.42 52-week high.

But the demand that sent nuclear stocks soaring in the first place hasn't reversed. Constellation Energy (NASDAQ:CEG), for instance, reported an additional 920 megawatts of long-term power purchase agreements alongside its second-quarter results.

In other words, the crash and the demand can both be true at once, because these companies do very different jobs. NuScale designs reactors, Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) sells the fuel, and Constellation already sells the power. A $2,000 investment split across the three buys three different claims on the same electricity demand.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

1. NuScale: approved designs, almost no revenue

NuScale's reactor is the first and only small modular reactor design certified by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Then in May 2025, the agency approved the company's uprated US460 plant design -- six modules of 77 megawatts each, or 462 megawatts in total.

What the approvals haven't produced yet is a paying customer base. Revenue went from $8.1 million in last year's second quarter to $565,000 in this year's first quarter to $75,000 in the second. The engineering work behind the older figures, on a project in Romania, wrapped up in late 2025, and nothing has replaced it. Meanwhile, the company's net loss widened to $50.1 million in the quarter, versus $37.6 million in the same period of 2025.

Buying the growth stock today is mostly a bet that the approvals turn into orders. The company does have a $1.9 billion war chest of cash and investments, which buys it time. And its partner ENTRA1 Energy is in discussions with the Tennessee Valley Authority about what management calls potentially the largest nuclear power deployment program in U.S. history -- though a definitive agreement hasn't been signed.

2. Cameco: the pounds are already sold

Cameco mines and refines uranium, and much of what it will deliver for years to come is already sold. The company has contracts in place for average annual deliveries of more than 28 million pounds of uranium over the next five years. Commitments run above that average from 2026 through 2028, and below it in 2029 and 2030. Notably, Cameco expects its own share of this year's production to total 19.5 million to 21.5 million pounds.

The company also said the long-term uranium price strengthened further, supported by contracting activity in the year's first half as customers increasingly focus on security of supply.

The second quarter itself was quieter. Cameco delivered 7.1 million pounds of uranium, and earnings fell from a year earlier, mostly because earnings from its stake in nuclear services company Westinghouse dropped after an unusually strong year-ago quarter.

Cameco's stock isn't the beaten-down one here. Shares trade about 25% off their 52-week high as of this writing, a far smaller discount than NuScale's. An investor buying today is paying for deliveries already under contract, not for a turnaround.

3. Constellation: the only one selling power today

Constellation is the largest nuclear energy company in the U.S. Its overall fleet has 55 gigawatts of generating capacity, a figure that includes Calpine, the natural gas and geothermal power producer it bought in January. Its nuclear fleet produced 44,160 gigawatt-hours of electricity in the second quarter.

Profits are rising, too. Second-quarter non-GAAP (adjusted) operating earnings climbed 34% year over year to $2.55 per share, and management now expects $11.50 to $12.50 in full-year adjusted earnings per share, a raised outlook. The new power purchase agreements run 15 to 20 years, and they include a 176-megawatt deal with Walmart supporting a capacity expansion at its Dresden plant in Illinois.

The stock isn't cheap, however. At about $292 per share, and using the midpoint of management's raised guidance, the stock's price-to-earnings multiple sits near 24.

But unlike NuScale, Constellation's valuation is measured against profits that already exist.

How I'd split the $2,000

Ultimately, all three stocks are claims on the same electricity demand. They just sit at different distances from the cash.

Constellation collects it today. Cameco has years of deliveries under contract. NuScale is still waiting for its first real order.

Sure, NuScale likely offers the most upside if orders finally land. But it's also the only one that could still be years away from meaningful revenue, and its losses are widening in the meantime.

So if I were putting $2,000 into nuclear power today, I think the split should favor proof: about half in Constellation, most of the rest in Cameco, and the smallest slice in NuScale. That way, most of the money sits with companies already getting paid.

Daniel Sparks and his clients do not have positions in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Cameco, Constellation Energy, and Walmart. The Motley Fool recommends NuScale Power. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.