Nuclear shares spent last year near their highs. This year, most of them have not stopped falling.
That decline has left many investors reeling and wondering if the nuclear issue is over. Kuran Francis, host of FinTek Channel, doesn’t see it that way. He says falling share prices and improving the underlying sector are two completely different stories at the moment, and that’s exactly what makes the setup interesting.
Prices Fall, Demand Grows
The International Energy Agency projects that demand for electricity in data centers will nearly double by 2030, with AI-specific demand growing even faster, largely driven by the construction of AI infrastructure across the United States.
Nuclear reactors take years to build. That’s not the whole story. Companies like Meta Platforms NASDAQ: META, Microsoft NASDAQ: MSFTagain Amazon.com NASDAQ: AMZN he signed superpower deals through 2024, and the resulting enthusiasm pushed nuclear stocks ahead of any real money. Now that the excitement is over, Francis says the undoing looks less like a broken thesis and more like a reset.
Regulation adds another layer. For decades, the role of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was to limit and slow down new nuclear development, especially after high-profile disasters in foreign countries. That situation is changing.
The agency’s mandate now includes facilitating new nuclear power, not just policing it, which could shorten some of the approval times that have put projects out for a decade or more.
Long Time Lines Cut Both Ways
A typical nuclear reactor still takes six to eight years to bring online, and often longer in the United States, given that regulatory history. Smaller “miniature reactors”, built at half scale, could begin commercial operation as soon as 2027, although many times point to the early 2030s.
That endurance requirement hit the small modular names hard. Company Oklo Inc. NYSE: OK again NuScale Power Corp. NYSE: SMR both were successful in late 2025 before returning most of those gains this year. Francis notes that small companies throw power in both directions and that volatility is a trade-off to enter before the issue becomes clear to everyone.
Nuclear already ranks among the safest sources of electricity generation per gigawatt, much safer than coal, wind, or natural gas. Stocks have never really priced in that fact.
Constellation Energy: A Strong Bet
Constellation Energy Today
Constellation Power
- 52 week interval
- $228.63
▼
$412.70
- Dividend Yield
- 0.68%
- The P/E ratio
- 22.03
- Target Value
- $368.32
Constellation already has an advantage, which mitigates the risks that come with long-term construction. The market cares less about the positive outlook here than evidence that the outflows are already there, and that combination of income and growth makes the current pullback look more like an opportunity than a warning sign.
Centrus Energy: A High-Risk Supply Play
Centrus Energy Today
Centrus Energy
- 52 week interval
- $142.13
▼
$464.25
- The P/E ratio
- 51.18
- Target Value
- $252.08
For more risk and more risk, Francis points out Centrus Energy Corp. NYSE: LEUis the only US-based producer of low-enriched uranium, or HALEU, the type of fuel that most small modular reactors are expected to rely on.
Centrus is also showing revenue growth as its Technical Solutions and HALEU operations grow, with management raising its revenue guidance for 2026 on the back of that progress.
Wall Street recently set a price target on the stock as its long-term outlook remains strong, with the same splits and cuts playing out across the sector. This stock can double or go to zero, and is not designed to be a holding target.
Easy way to enter
VanEck Uranium and Nuclear ETF Today
VanEck Uranium and Nuclear ETF
Starting at 10:21 AM Eastern
- 52 week interval
- $101.92
▼
$168.12
- Dividend Yield
- 3.03%
- Assets Under Administration
- $3.73 billion
For investors who would prefer not to pick a single name, Francis’s third choice is VanEck Uranium and Nuclear ETF NYSEARCA: NLRwhich distributes approximately $4 billion in assets to nuclear and uranium companies around the world. Constellation and Centrus both sit among large holdings, so choosing either the fund or the individual names, rather than both, keeps exposure to multiples.
The fund is not a hedge against volatility. NLR has fallen more than 25% in the past three months, in line with the broader sector, and its relatively low level means that one large investor entering or exiting can meaningfully change the price.
The Long Game
Nothing about nuclear power is going on investors’ timelines. Looking ahead is a ten-year unending demand build. Risk is holding stock prices for years that may not reflect.
The fear that is bringing down the sector right now and the fundamentals that are driving it tell two different stories. Long-term investors must decide which one they believe.
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