NuScale power (NYSE: SMR) stocks continue to baffle investors. According to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, the stock shot up 65.3% in October. Thanks to last month’s rally and investor excitement that has spilled over into this month so far, nuclear power stocks are up a whopping over 550% in 2024 as of this writing.
It only took a few non-company-specific events in October to send NuScale Power stock soaring.
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NuScale Power is a start-up developing scalable, small modular reactor (SMR) plants that aim to provide reliable, carbon-free electricity at a lower cost than standard large nuclear power plants. As more economies seek to replace fossil fuels with low-carbon energy sources, nuclear energy stocks like NuScale Power are catching investors’ attention.
However, the rise in NuScale Power stock in recent months has been driven almost entirely by industry events, and the story continued to play out in October when two monster companies announced investments in SMR technology.
On October 14, technology giant Alphabet has signed an agreement with Kairos Power to purchase nuclear energy from the various SMRs that the latter will build in the coming years. Kairos expects to have its first SMR online by 2030. Alphabet sees promise in these nuclear reactors, believing their smaller size and modular design “can shorten construction timelines, enable deployment in more places, and make ultimate project delivery more predictable.”
A few days later, e-commerce giant Amazon announced multiple deals in support of nuclear energy. They include an agreement with utilities to build four advanced SMRs in Washington state, investments in a private developer of SMRs, and an agreement with utility giant Dominion Energy to explore construction of a small modular reactor near Dominion’s existing nuclear power plant in North Anna.
Although NuScale Power was nowhere in the picture and didn’t announce a deal of its own, the stock still rose more than 50% the week of Alphabet and Amazon’s announcements as investors saw greater potential in nuclear power, especially in the SMR, while there are so many global companies investing in it. In September, two other tech giants announced investments in nuclear power, sending NuScale Power shares up about 40%.
NuScale Power is still years away from commercializing its flagship “VYOGR” SMR power plants and does not expect to deliver its nuclear power modules before 2028, provided design and production plans go as planned.
