Is This SMR Stock Poised for a Comeback as Nuclear Demand Surges?

The Nuclear Energy Renaissance Reshapes Market Dynamics

The energy landscape is undergoing a dramatic transformation, with nuclear power—particularly small modular reactors—gaining renewed attention from investors and policymakers alike. NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR), a leader in small modular reactor technology, sits at the intersection of this broader trend. Yet the company’s stock tells a more complicated story, trading around $17 after peaking at $57 just months ago.

Why the Market’s Enthusiasm Cooled

The past six months have been volatile for SMR shareholders. The stock has experienced a sharp 58% pullback, with investor positions being reduced and analyst sentiment turning cautious. What’s driving this skepticism? The primary concern centers on NuScale’s still-unproven commercial model—while the company has advanced technology, it hasn’t yet locked in binding revenue agreements with major customers.

This gap between technological promise and commercial reality has created uncertainty. Market participants worry that despite solid engineering, the path to sustainable profitability remains unclear. The company faces the classic challenge of transitioning from a development-stage enterprise to a revenue-generating operation.

The Catalyst Investors Are Watching

However, the backdrop for nuclear energy is shifting favorably. Artificial intelligence infrastructure—specifically the data centers powering large-scale AI models—demands unprecedented quantities of reliable baseload electricity. Nuclear energy, with its carbon-free generation profile and consistent output, represents an ideal solution for operators seeking to power compute-intensive operations sustainably.

This structural demand could become transformative for NuScale. The company is currently in discussions with potential strategic customers, and while formal agreements haven’t been finalized (outcomes likely won’t crystallize until 2027 or later), these relationships could represent the inflection point investors have been awaiting.

Valuation and the Entry Question

At under $20 per share, SMR appears to offer a potential entry opportunity for investors willing to assume the execution risk. The thesis is straightforward: if NuScale successfully converts even a handful of customer commitments into binding contracts, revenue visibility would improve dramatically, potentially justifying a meaningful revaluation.

Yet investors should acknowledge the reality—NuScale remains pre-revenue from a commercial standpoint, and securing customer commitments is far from guaranteed. The nuclear energy momentum is real, but converting enthusiasm into actual orders requires operational excellence and competitive differentiation.

For those considering SMR at current levels, the decision ultimately hinges on conviction regarding both the nuclear energy resurgence and NuScale’s ability to execute in a high-stakes competitive environment.