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Nuclear stocks tried to rally on Wednesday, extending Tuesday's surge off recent lows. The rally followed reports of a landmark nuclear deal reached between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia that would see U.S. companies play key roles as the Arab nation enters the arena of nuclear power.
Another boost for nuclear energy stocks came from a separate report this week of a U.S. effort to speed up new nuclear reactors for artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.
Nuclear utility leader Constellation EnergyCEG rallied 4%. Among the nuclear startup stocks, OkloOKLO and Nano Nuclear EnergyNNE led gains, climbing more than 2% each in Wednesday's stock market action before paring gains. NuScale PowerSMR and X-EnergyXE edged higher before turning lower. For the week, they remain up around 8% to 18% each.
Milestone U.S.-Saudi Arabia Nuclear Deal
The new nuclear deal would last 30 years and is estimated to be worth tens of billions of dollars, according to The Wall Street Journal. It reportedly gives U.S. companies a central role in developing the Gulf nation's nuclear infrastructure while shutting out other foreign competitors.
President Donald Trump has formally approved the landmark agreement that may also allow uranium enrichment to fuel nuclear reactors in the Saudi kingdom's territory, the report said. The deal completely reshapes decades of American nonproliferation policy.
The companies involved have not yet been disclosed, but Congress would need to be consulted, other reports said. Amid the spiraling U.S.-Iran war, the deal is likely to raise concerns about nuclear proliferation in Middle East. The deal is expected to be submitted to Congress for review in the coming days, the WSJ reported.
Nuclear Stocks Rally Off Recent Lows
In Wednesday's stock market trading, Oklo stock rose less than 1%, holding well below its key long-term moving averages. Shares made a new low at 39.53 on July 17. They have slumped 37% year to date.
In fact, nuclear startup stocks are all down by more than a third to almost a half in 2026. In a volatile and uncertain market, investors have rotated out of software tech stocks and high-beta names to more defensive growth stocks.
The nuclear startups promise high growth but remain unprofitable for now. NuScale Power is set to report earnings for the second quarter on Aug. 5. Oklo and the other startup nuclear stocks are expected to report earnings next month as well.
Those nuclear stocks scorched higher in 2025 through mid-October. They gained on high hopes for nuclear power in powering artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.
More established nuclear stocks include GE VernovaGEV and Rolls-RoyceRYCEY, which are both developing small modular reactor technology. GEV stock plunged on an earnings miss on Wednesday. RYCEY edged up.
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U.S. Effort To Speed Up Nuclear Reactors For AI
In a separate fillip for nuclear stocks this week, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that the Trump administration selected OKLO stock and XE stock for a $200 million federal initiative with MicrosoftMSFT and NvidiaNVDA.
Regional grids are struggling to supply the electricity needs of power-hungry AI data centers. The new program aims to bypass grid bottlenecks by building advanced reactors faster. The technology giants building out AI data centers nationwide continue to source energy from all sources, from gas power to solar, wind and nuclear power.
On the back of the two U.S. initiatives, Oklo stock has jumped 8.4% this week and XE stock has surged 18.5%. Other nuclear stocks sport similarly large gains.
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