Nuclear stocks have surged in 2025 as Big Tech companies look to alternative energy sources to power the AI revolution. A highflying name that has caught investors' attention is Nano Nuclear Energy. Nano Nuclear stock has powered 45% higher so far this year thanks to the bullish outlook for AI power demand.
The New York-based company is focused on developing small modular reactors (SMRs) as part of its portfolio of clean energy solutions.
"You've seen big civil nuclear power plants powering cities, but now we're in a position where we can power smaller things," Chief Executive James Walker told Investor's Business Daily. "It's a new wave of nuclear energy and a new range of applications."
The company has yet to sell any of its finished products. And the material transition to nuclear power sources may be years away.
Nano Nuclear Stock: From Public Debut To Skyrocketing Growth
Small modular reactor companies have seen a recent surge in interest thanks to Big Tech's quest for nuclear power solutions to support its AI ambitions. Since going public in May 2024, Nano Nuclear stock has skyrocketed roughly 380%.
But Nano Nuclear Energy stock can be highly volatile due to the nature of the emerging nuclear power market.
For example, shares broke above a double-bottom base with a 33.82 buy point on Jan. 22 and quickly hit a record high of 48.05. But NNE stock gave back almost half those gains as news of China's DeepSeek AI platform rattled the market and AI-adjacent stocks in late January.
Shares have since rebounded above their key moving averages after bottoming out in April. But NNE stock remains roughly 25% below its 52-week high.
Nano Nuclear Energy stock declined by 9.5% on July 28, mirroring a broader dip in nuclear stocks. This downturn followed a decision from federal regulators that blocked a proposal to increase nuclear power supply to an Amazon data center.
On July 25, Nano Nuclear Energy filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission that could allow them to raise up to $620 million in stock or debt.
But there are no details on an actual offering as of yet. Often hot companies with little to no revenue history offer shares to get more funding. Investors should rely on technical and fundamental analysis when making stock purchase decisions.
Why Big Tech Is Betting On Nuclear
Artificial intelligence applications use up immense amounts of energy. And the increase in power demand comes at an opportune time for the nuclear power industry.
McKinsey & Co. projects that energy demand from U.S. data centers will grow from around 4% of total energy demand in 2025 to 12% by 2030.
Nuclear energy stocks spent much of 2024 at the top of the S&P 500. And enthusiasm has only grown as hyperscalers like Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet-owned Google have taken steps to supplement their energy requirements with nuclear power.
Constellation Energy and Vistra were early winners to ride a wave of investor excitement about nuclear power. Microsoft struck a 20-year deal with Constellation Energy in September 2024. Vistra has already secured power purchase agreement from Amazon and Microsoft for its new solar facilities.
Amazon, Google and Oracle all announced investments in developing small modular reactors last fall. Meta Platforms is expected to be shopping for nuclear energy developers to power its massive $10 billion artificial intelligence data center in Louisiana currently under development.
Meanwhile, the Sam Altman-backed nuclear startup Oklo hit all-time highs in June after securing an agreement with the Department of Defense to use its reactor technology at the Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska.
Nano Nuclear Stock's Path To Profitability
Nano Nuclear CEO James Walker believes that the growing competition in the nuclear energy market will ultimately benefit everyone involved, reflecting a "rising tide lifts all ships" philosophy.
The company has several SMR designs in development. The Zeus microreactor is a solid-core battery reactor that can fit into a standard shipping container and operate in remote locations. Nano Nuclear's Odin and Kronos reactors are portable, with Odin utilizing water as a coolant and Kronos employing gas.
But Nano Nuclear has yet to sell any of these finished designs. Walker speculated that those assets won't be deployed until the end of the decade.
"Most of the customers we talked to, including those in the tech industry, don't want to buy a reactor," Walker said. "They don't want to operate it and they don't want to be responsible for it, but they want to buy the power all day long."
Walker says this could translate to steady revenue for Nano Nuclear's power projects once they're in operation.
"We'll bear that upfront capital cost, but we'll apportion that into the lifetime of the contract," Walker stated. "And then the company is in a very strong position at that moment just to keep taking that revenue and income inward."
Data on nuclear cost competitiveness seems to back up these projections. The Energy Information Administration indicates that the average wholesale power price in the Three Mile Island's grid region stood at approximately $40 per megawatt-hour in 2023. Morgan Stanley thinks nuclear power prices will fall in the $45 to $55 per megawatt-hour range.
Nuclear Power's Next Steps
Walker says Nano Nuclear Energy is focused on two major projects in the coming fiscal year. The company is building prototype systems at the University of Illinois and in Canada.
Recent moves by the White House could also provide a tailwind to nuclear stocks. In May, President Donald Trump signed four executive orders aimed at reinvigorating America's nuclear energy industry.
Although nuclear power is an emerging market, Walker believes that increasing power demand significantly de-risks its long-term outlook.
"Nuclear will play an increasingly crucial part in industry," Walker said. "Once you get those economies of scale and you can mass manufacture the reactor systems and drive down the cost of power, it'll be more widely deployed across the U.S."
Please follow Alexis Garcia on X @IBD_Alexis for more coverage.
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