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This Week's Exclusive Content Red Screens, Green Future: 2 Ways to Buy the Nuclear Sector DipAuthored by Jeffrey Neal Johnson. Publication Date: 12/30/2025. 
Article Highlights - Artificial intelligence data centers are driving unprecedented demand for reliable, clean baseload energy that only nuclear power can reliably supply.
- NuScale Power continues to solidify its leadership position through strategic utility partnerships and the commercialization of its regulator-approved design.
- Oklo is advancing physically with site preparation while maintaining a robust balance sheet to support its unique business model of selling power to end users.
If you're checking your portfolio at the end of December and you're invested in advanced nuclear, the view can look ugly. The industry, a darling of the 2025 market, is currently flashing red warnings to close out the year. Oklo Inc. (NYSE: OKLO) has slid 36% in the past three months. NuScale Power Corporation (NYSE: SMR) has taken an even steeper hit, down nearly 62% in the same period. For investors who bought into the nuclear renaissance narrative earlier this year, these declines might feel like a signal to exit. However, successful investing requires separating short-term price action from underlying business value. The recent chart meltdown does not reflect the physical progress occurring at construction sites in Idaho or in engineering offices in Oregon. The fundamental drivers that pushed these stocks higher—most notably the massive energy demand from artificial intelligence data centers—haven't disappeared overnight. What we are witnessing is a seasonal market phenomenon that has temporarily disconnected stock prices from fundamentals. For opportunistic investors, that disconnect can offer a rare chance to acquire high-growth assets at a discount as the new year begins. The Silent Catalyst: Tax-Loss Harvesting This is the time of year when the calendar matters as much as the balance sheet. In the final trading days of December, tax-driven flows often dominate—especially in volatile, high-beta names that ran hard earlier in the year and then reversed. 2025 was volatile. While many sectors soared, specific stocks saw extreme swings. Oklo, for example, experienced a speculative surge in October, approaching $193 per share, and has since corrected into the $70–$80 range. Investors who bought near those highs are sitting on unrealized losses. By selling now, those investors can realize losses to offset capital gains they may owe on other profitable positions, such as in the semiconductor market or AI tech stocks. While heavy selling can be unsettling, it likely reflects year-end tax deadlines—not failed reactors or broken customer contracts. Historical patterns show this effect often reverses once the new tax year begins. The artificial supply of shares floods the market in December, depressing prices, then dries up in January, allowing stocks to find their true, often higher, floors. Safety in Numbers: NuScale's 6 GW Pipeline Tax-loss selling impacts the entire sector, but NuScale Power offers a distinct value proposition for risk-averse investors. In a market filled with paper reactors that exist only in simulations, NuScale remains the only Small Modular Reactor (SMR) manufacturer with a design fully approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The drop in NuScale's share price largely ignores the significant commercial progress the company made late this year. The most consequential development is the program with its exclusive partner ENTRA1 Energy and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which target deployment of up to 6 gigawatts (GW) of SMR capacity. To put 6 GW in perspective: - It is roughly equivalent to the output of six large traditional nuclear plants.
- It is enough power to support widespread industrial decarbonization or large data center campuses.
Financially, NuScale is maturing. The company has moved beyond pure research and development to become a revenue-generating business. Throughout 2025, revenue rose, driven mainly by engineering services for the RoPower project in Romania. NuScale is not running on fumes: it finished the third quarter of 2025 with roughly $753.8 million in cash and investments, providing runway to execute large-scale utility deals. Investors selling now are effectively discarding the most regulatorily advanced SMR company in the western hemisphere at a discount. From PowerPoint to Powerhouse: Oklo's Physical Progress Oklo requires a different analysis because it operates on a different business model. While NuScale sells the razor (the reactor), Oklo intends to sell the shave (the electricity). Its Power-as-a-Service model—building, owning and operating plants and selling power directly to end users such as data centers—can deliver higher long-term margins but requires significant upfront capital. Market anxiety around regulatory timelines often clouds judgment. Critics point to delays in the NRC's Part 53 framework and new rules for advanced reactors as a reason to sell. But two facts complicate that narrative. 1: The Dirt Is Moving Despite the paperwork, Oklo has moved from design to execution. Construction and site preparation are underway at the Aurora powerhouse site in Idaho. Excavators on site are a major de-risking event: they show the project is transitioning from concept to a physical asset. 2: The Financial Fortress Building power plants is expensive, but Oklo is prepared. The company holds approximately $1.2 billion in cash and marketable securities. That liquidity matters. Many high-growth companies fail because they run out of money while waiting for permits. Oklo's cash position means it can weather regulatory delays without urgent dilutive financing. The recent drop in Oklo's stock price effectively discounts that cash. With capital on hand and visible construction progress, the sell-off looks overextended relative to the company's balance sheet. The AI Energy Crunch: Smart Money vs. Fast Money Stripped of daily volatility and tax-season selling, the macro picture for 2026 remains bullish. Tech giants are a new class of energy buyers: they need gigawatts of always-on, carbon-free power to run AI data centers around the clock and meet climate commitments. Wind and solar are intermittent and cannot reliably run large server farms overnight without costly battery backups. Nuclear is the only scalable, always-on solution. The easy-money phase of the hype cycle—when speculative capital chased any nuclear-themed ticker—is over. We are entering an accumulation phase, where informed investors look for companies with real contracts, real cash and real regulatory progress, and buy into dips. The pullback in Oklo and NuScale is uncomfortable, but it acts as a filter, shaking out short-term traders and creating opportunity for long-term investors. These corrections are not signs of failure; they are an invitation to buy the future of energy at 2024 prices ahead of the expected 2026 demand curve.
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