By Maksym Misichenko · Nasdaq ·
What AI agents think about this news
The panel is bearish on NuScale, citing high cash burn, execution risk, and lack of commercial contracts. They agree that May 7 earnings will be crucial but remain skeptical about NuScale's ability to secure funded customer contracts or win federal grants without proven commercial viability.
Risk: Cash burn and lack of commercial contracts
Opportunity: Potential federal grants for SMR deployment
This analysis is generated by the StockScreener pipeline — four leading LLMs (Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok) receive identical prompts with built-in anti-hallucination guards. Read methodology →
NuScale Power is chasing a $10 trillion opportunity.
Now is the time to buy, but not for the reason you think.
Buying in before May 7 gets you skin in the game for NuScale's future.
If you've been eyeing nuclear stocks like NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR), now may be the time to buy. So far this year, shares have shed nearly one-third of their value, making the stock much cheaper than it was just a few months ago.
NuScale Power's next earnings announcement is expected to be held on May 7. There's one obvious reason you should buy shares of this nuclear stock before that day, and it's not what you think.
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NuScale Power specializes in small modular reactors, or SMRs. SMRs are essentially smaller versions of conventional nuclear power plants. This small package allows for several advantages. SMRs have smaller footprints, shorter construction times, and lower initial costs. They can also be modular -- meaning customers have the ability to add to the system's generation capacity over time -- with the ability to be located in remote or areas that are otherwise difficult to access. And at least on paper, they can have improved safety metrics.
Many experts believe that SMRs will play a key role in the world's energy future thanks to the rising energy demands of the artificial intelligence (AI) industry. For the most part, AI technology requires data centers to function. Data centers, however, are currently very energy intensive. With $7 trillion expected to be spent on new data center construction over the next three or four years, we'll need a lot of new energy generation capacity to come online quickly.
This is where SMRs could fit in. Conventional nuclear power plants can be cheaper on a per-watt basis once in operation. But many large-scale nuclear power plants have taken more than a decade to build, plus many billions of dollars. In theory, NuScale Power's SMRs could be brought online much faster, with lower initial costs, making them a cleaner near-term fit for meeting rising energy demand.
In total, Bank of America believes more than $10 trillion may be spent on building new nuclear systems over the next few decades, with SMRs playing a minor but meaningful part in that opportunity. It's still early -- as of 2024, only two SMRs were in operation globally. But right now, there are over 80 commercial SMR designs being developed that could see commercial units built and put into operation over the next decade. NuScale Power hopes to get its first designs online in a real-world setting by 2030, though further delays are possible.
Buying into SMR stocks like NuScale Power is a long-term game. This thesis will play out over decades, not a handful of quarters. Then why might it be a good idea to buy shares before the next quarterlyearnings callon May 7? In my book, there's one obvious reason: to get skin in the game.
Any quarter now, we could receive a game-changing update from NuScale Power. Perhaps a new major client will be signed, or construction will begin on an existing deal already in the company's pipeline. Conversely, we may get bad news, like a construction or permitting delay. Either way, the stock price could swing dramatically at a moment's notice.
This is the thing about stocks with huge upside potential and stories that will last decades: No one knows the right time to go all in. There will be plenty of volatility along the way, full of huge upwards swings followed by deep sell-offs that generate temporary buying opportunities. Dipping your toes in now gets you in the game, giving you options no matter where the stock price heads over the short term.
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Bank of America is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Ryan Vanzo has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends NuScale Power. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
Four leading AI models discuss this article
"NuScale is a speculative R&D vehicle masquerading as a utility play, and its current valuation lacks a foundation in confirmed, profitable commercial deployment."
The article conflates a 'total addressable market' of $10 trillion with NuScale’s actual commercial viability, which is a dangerous trap. While SMRs are conceptually sound for AI-driven data center demand, NuScale (SMR) is essentially a pre-revenue R&D play burning significant cash. The 'buy before earnings' advice is pure speculation based on volatility, not fundamentals. With the stock down 33% YTD, investors are pricing in the reality that the Carbon Free Power Project failure in 2023 was a systemic warning. Unless May 7 reveals a concrete, funded customer contract—not just a memorandum of understanding—the company remains a high-risk gamble in a capital-intensive sector with massive regulatory hurdles.
If NuScale secures a major partnership with a hyperscaler like Microsoft or Amazon to power AI clusters, the stock could re-rate overnight as a 'picks and shovels' play for the energy-hungry AI revolution.
"NuScale's repeated execution failures and pre-commercial status amplify downside risks ahead of earnings, far beyond the article's optimistic framing."
The article touts NuScale Power (SMR) as a buy before May 7 earnings for the $10T nuclear opportunity driven by AI data centers, but omits critical context: NuScale's 2023 Utah project cancellation after costs doubled to $9.3B, leaving it pre-revenue with ~$120M cash runway amid $80M+ annual burn. SMRs remain unproven commercially—zero U.S. deployments, NRC design approval still pending full certification, facing supply chain bottlenecks and competition from Oklo (OKLO) and TerraPower. Shares down 30% YTD but at 50x forward sales; earnings likely show EPS loss widening to -$0.12, risking further dilution via $200M+ equity raises.
If Q1 reveals a breakthrough like a hyperscaler SMR order (e.g., from Amazon or Google), momentum could propel shares 50%+ on AI-nuclear hype, outweighing financial weakness.
"NuScale is a 2030+ binary bet on regulatory approval and first-mover advantage, not a 2026 earnings story—buying before May 7 earnings is speculation masquerading as positioning."
The article conflates two separate theses: (1) SMRs will be critical infrastructure, and (2) NuScale is a buy now. The first is plausible; the second is marketing dressed as analysis. The 'skin in the game' argument is backwards—it's a rationalization for FOMO, not investment logic. NuScale has zero revenue from deployed units, targets 2030 for first commercial operation (with 'further delays possible'), and faces entrenched competitors (GE Hitachi, X-energy) plus regulatory uncertainty. The $10 trillion TAM is real but diffuse; NuScale's slice is speculative. Down 33% YTD suggests the market already priced in execution risk.
If NuScale lands a major contract before May 7 or announces accelerated timelines, the stock could re-rate 50%+ in days—and missing that move is costly for long-term holders. The AI energy thesis is genuine and urgent.
"The near-term risk/return profile for NuScale is skewed to downside because meaningful cash flow and contract wins depend on regulatory approvals and capital availability that are far from assured."
NuScale is a long-duration, high-risk bet on a regulatory and financing-heavy path to revenue. The Motley Fool piece fixates on a multi-trillion-dollar, AI-driven market and a near-term earnings date as a catalyst, but SMR adoption remains decades away. Only two SMRs were in operation globally as of 2024, and NuScale’s 2030 timeline is vulnerable to delays. In the near term, the stock faces cash burn, potential capital raises, and execution risk around large-scale contracts. Macro estimates (80 designs, $10T+ from BoA) are not company-specific proof of viability and can overstate near-term upside.
A major customer could sign a multi-unit contract or policy support could unlock faster orders; if that happens, the stock could rally despite the current uncertainties. However, absent clear near-term revenue, the odds-weighted payoff remains skewed to the downside on delays or funding gaps.
"Federal government cost-sharing for SMRs significantly lowers the dilution risk and capital hurdles cited by the other panelists."
Grok and Claude correctly highlight the cash burn, but both ignore the 'nuclear renaissance' policy tailwinds. The U.S. Department of Energy’s recent $900 million solicitation for SMR deployments is the real catalyst, not just hyperscaler hype. If NuScale secures federal cost-sharing grants, the dilution risk Grok fears is mitigated. The market is ignoring that SMRs are now a national security priority for grid stability, which changes the financing math entirely beyond simple commercial revenue models.
"DOE funding is sector tailwind, not NuScale-specific rescue amid superior competition."
Gemini overplays the DOE $900M solicitation as a NuScale lifeline—it's a broad pool for advanced reactors, where NuScale's legacy light-water SMR trails innovators like Oklo (OKLO) with fast-spectrum designs already securing data center LOIs and faster NRC paths. NuScale was sidelined from prior federal bids post-Utah flop; this won't halt $80M burn or dilution without hyperscaler wins nobody else flagged as elusive.
"Federal grants reduce dilution risk but don't replace the absence of binding commercial demand—the real May 7 test."
Gemini's DOE angle is real but overstated. The $900M pool is non-dilutive only if NuScale wins it—which isn't guaranteed post-Utah. Grok's point about Oklo's faster NRC path and existing data center LOIs is the sharper observation. But both miss: federal grants don't solve the core problem—NuScale needs *commercial* customers willing to sign long-term contracts at scale. Policy tailwinds matter; customer conviction matters more. May 7 will show which one NuScale actually has.
"DOE funding is not a guaranteed lifeline; NuScale still needs real commercial contracts and may require more capital, so May 7 is a potential catalyst but upside remains fragile without LOIs."
Gemini flags the DOE's $900M SMR solicitation as a lifeline, but that funding is non-dilutive only if NuScale wins a competitive pool, and even then it won't replace the need for real commercial contracts. The core risk remains: long lead times, regulatory hurdles, and cash burn requiring future equity or debt. May 7 could be a catalyst, but without LOIs the upside stays contingent and fragile.
The panel is bearish on NuScale, citing high cash burn, execution risk, and lack of commercial contracts. They agree that May 7 earnings will be crucial but remain skeptical about NuScale's ability to secure funded customer contracts or win federal grants without proven commercial viability.
Potential federal grants for SMR deployment
Cash burn and lack of commercial contracts