Investors have been flocking to profitless nuclear start-up stocks like Nano Nuclear, NuScale, and Oklo.
Fluor owns a majority stake in NuScale — and is profitable in and of itself.
Fluor also generates substantial free cash flow, and is valued attractively relative to both forward earnings and current free cash flow.
10 stocks we like better than Fluor ›
President Donald Trump says he wants the U.S. to quadruple its nuclear power output by 2050, from 100 gigawatts to 400 gigawatts. In May, he signed four executive orders aimed at accelerating the development of new nuclear power plants in the United States. Among other things, those orders direct:
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission to approve or deny new nuclear reactor licenses within 18 months of receiving applications (an acceleration from the current timeline of about five years).
The creation of a pilot program that would have three new experimental reactors approved and operating by July 4, 2026 — less than 12 months from now.
The Department of Energy (DOE) to begin deploying advanced small modular nuclear reactors at DOE-owned locations by the end of 2027.
The Pentagon to have at least one nuclear reactor operational on a military base by September 2028.
The DOE to generally improve the nation’s nuclear supply chain, including by promoting domestic enrichment of uranium, both U.S.-mined and imported.
If all of this makes you think that now might be a good time to invest in nuclear power stocks, well, you’re not alone.
Image source: Getty Images.
Three start-up nuclear companies developing “micro” and somewhat larger “small” modular nuclear reactors — Nano Nuclear Energy (NASDAQ: NNE), NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR), and Oklo (NYSE: OKLO) — have all outperformed the S&P 500 over the past year. Nano’s outperformance is currently the smallest, but NuScale for example is up 160% in 52 weeks, and Oklo’s stock is up more than 620%.
By comparison, nuclear power plant builder Fluor (NYSE: FLR) stock’s performance has been relatively tame. Up 19% over the past year, it has also outperformed the S&P 500. But if you ask me, Fluor stock should actually be doing much better than these smaller companies, because its valuation is so much cheaper … especially relative to its earnings.
If you’ve got $1,000 or so lying around, and have been wanting to put it to work in a nuclear stock, Fluor just might be the one you’ve been waiting for.
Last week, I went so far as to call Fluor “the smartest nuclear stock” money could buy. I came to this conclusion based on the fact that Fluor owns a majority interest in small modular reactor builder NuScale, yet has a smaller market capitalization than NuScale’s $10.3 billion implied market cap (according to the latest data from S&P Global Market Intelligence), as well ass Fluor’s track record of being profitable for the past three years. Contrast that with NuScale, Oklo, and Nano Nuclear, all of which remain unprofitable.
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