S&P 500 nuclear plays Constellation Energy and Vistra reported second-quarter earnings and revenue early Thursday as the stock market nuclear energy hype takes another jump as the Trump White House throws increasing support into nuclear power.
Constellation Energy reported Q2 earnings growing nearly 14% to $1.91 per share while revenue totaled $6.10 billion, marking a 11.5% increase vs. a year earlier. Prior to the release, analysts expected Q2 EPS to come in at $1.84 per share on sales of $4.91 billion, according to FactSet.
Constellation Energy said this was primarily due to higher "banked" zero-emission credits revenues along with favorable market and portfolio conditions. However, this was partially offset by lower nuclear production tax credits with "higher anticipated gross receipts for the year."
The company also reaffirmed previous 2025 guidance on Thursday, continuing to maintain its initial 2025 guidance from Jan. 10 of adjusted earnings between $8.90-$9.60 per share, keeping its expectations unchanged since announcing the acquisition of Calpine, a privately owned natural gas and geothermal power generator, for $26.6 billion.
Constellation's nuclear fleet produced 45,170 gigawatt-hours (GWhs) in the second quarter, down less than 1% compared with 45,314 GWhs a year ago.
"With increasing demand for electricity to power American families and businesses, AI, electric vehicles and industrial growth, we're doing our part to ensure reliability and affordability," CEO Joe Dominguez said in the earnings release Thursday.
Constellation also stressed federal support for nuclear in its earnings report.
"Bipartisan support for nuclear energy continues at both the federal and state levels. Passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act preserves and expands the nuclear provisions enacted in the Inflation Reduction Act. These are the only tax credits that have received overwhelming support from both the Republican and Democratic congressional delegations. Federal initiatives are also underway to expand the existing fleet with fast-track licensing, increase domestic conversion and enrichment of nuclear fuel, and accelerate deployment of new reactors," the company wrote Thursday.
Vistra Earnings
Meanwhile, Vistra reported Thursday that second-quarter revenue increased 10.6% to $4.25 billion with net income declining 10% to $327 million. Analysts expected Vistra to see second-quarter sales of $4.74 billion with net income totaling $301.2 million, according to FactSet.
Similar to Constellation, Vistra also reaffirmed 2025 guidance, as the S&P 500 company expects adjusted profit coming in between $5.5 billion and $6.1 billion. Vistra also increased the midpoint for its 2026 ongoing operations adjusted EBITDA to more than $6.8 billion on Thursday.
"With increasing demand for electricity to power American families and businesses, AI, electric foundation for the U.S. economy," Vistra CEO Jim Burke said in the earnings report.
On Tuesday, Constellation Energy announced it would hold its quarterly dividend steady at 39 cents a share. Meanwhile, Vistra regulatory filings on Tuesday showed that Qatar Investment Authority, the Qatar sovereign fund, has taken a 5.5% stake in VST, placing the fund among the stock's top three shareholders.
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Constellation Energy shares shot up 91% last year, while Vistra stock rocketed 258%, placing both among the top S&P 500 stocks and the best 100 stocks of 2024. So far in the 2025 stock market, Constellation Energy is up around 55%, placing it 12th in the S&P 500 index. Vistra has galloped 52% higher this year, good for 18th best in the S&P 500.
Constellation Energy fell 0.6% to 336.41 during Thursday's stock market after declining 1.5% to 338.46 on Wednesday.
Fellow S&P 500 component Vistra advanced 2.4% to 205.65 in Thursday's market action. VST shares sank 4.2% to 200.85 on Wednesday.
Both stocks declined Tuesday even as nuclear-related stocks generally moved higher.
Deals With Big Tech
In early June, Constellation Energy signed a 20-year energy deal to fuel Facebook-parent Meta Platform's "AI ambitions."
Meta will purchase more than 1,100 megawatts of nuclear energy from Constellation's Clinton Clean Energy Center in Clinton, Ill. The deal will support the relicensing and continued operations of the Clinton nuclear facility, beginning in June of 2027. The S&P 500 company added that the deal with Meta will expand Clinton's energy output by 30 megawatts. Constellation did not reveal financial details of the arrangement.
Constellation Energy's 20-year deal with Meta comes nine months after it sealed a two-decade contract with Microsoft in September to provide nuclear power for the tech giant's data centers.
The deal with Meta came after Constellation Energy executives suggested on its Q1 earnings call they were working on multiple deals this year.
Trump's Support For Nuclear
The second-quarter earnings from the S&P 500 nuclear giants landed after Politico reported late Monday that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, also the interim NASA head, will announce plans this week to build a nuclear reactor on the moon.
According to documents reviewed by Politico, the Trump White House is ordering the agency to solicit industry proposals for a 100 kilowatt nuclear reactor to launch by 2030. NASA previously funded research into a 40 kilowatt reactor for use on the moon, with plans to have a reactor ready for launch by the early 2030s, Politico reported.
President Donald Trump in late May signed four executive orders to support the nuclear energy sector and put in place a "total and complete reform" of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or NRC.
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S&P 500 Giants And Nuclear Stocks
Constellation Energy stock has been cutting back and forth around a traditional 342 buy point following a July 30 breakout, according to MarketSurge.
Vistra stock touched an all-time high of 216.85 on Tuesday before retreating. The S&P 500 stock has rebounded around 130% from an early April low.
Meanwhile, nuclear-related stocks rallied broadly Tuesday as BWX Technologies, the U.S. Navy's main nuclear reactor supplier, reported much better-than-expected second-quarter earnings and revenue late Monday.
BWXT stock soared 17.8% to 181.98 in Tuesday's stock market. Uranium miner Centrus Energy gained 1.7% Tuesday before reporting significantly better-than-expected second-quarter earnings and revenue after the stock market close. This was primarily due to favorable pricing on contracts for nuclear fuel.
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Among other nuclear-related stocks, Oklo jumped 10.4% to 84.36 Tuesday, part of a 11% gain so far this week. Oklo is focused on the emerging small modular reactor, or SMR, technology.
The startup is looking to bring its first commercial SMR online in late 2027 or early 2028. No operating SMRs now exist, but a number of companies are developing the technology. SMRs aim to provide power at the company level, drastically reducing the time and cost of permitting, constructing and operating full-scale nuclear facilities.
Fellow SMR-focused plays NuScale Power and Nano Nuclear Energy have advanced 0.8% and 8.6%, respectively, in this week's stock market.
Canada-based uranium refiner Cameco is up about 4.7% this week.
Cameco, which owns a 49% stake in nuclear reactor builder Westinghouse, reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings on Friday, with quarterly profit soaring 410%.
Investors can keep tabs on the IBD Leaderboard watchlist, the IBD 50 list of top growth stocks and IBD SwingTrader along with the IBD Sector Leaders list.
Constellation Energy stock has an 89 Composite Rating out of a best-possible 99. The S&P 500 stock also has a 91 Relative Strength Rating. The nuclear stock has a 41 EPS Rating.
Please follow Kit Norton on X @KitNorton for more coverage.
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