Key Takeaways
- Oklo shares jumped Tuesday morning following news the company is in advanced talks with the Energy Department for a fuel program.
- Analysts said the announcement adds to Oklo’s strategy of securing fuel from multiple sources, but isn’t necessarily accelerating the nuclear energy startup’s timeline of bringing its first reactors online.
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Oklo stock climbed Tuesday after the company took a key step towards securing fuel for its nuclear reactors.
Shares of the nuclear energy start-up were up more than 6% in recent trading after Oklo (OKLO) announced this morning that it was one of five companies selected for advanced negotiations for the Department of Energy’s Surplus Plutonium Utilization Program.
The program takes extra plutonium that could be disposed of and instead provides it to nuclear energy companies to be converted into fuel for reactors. The company said the program “supports Oklo’s broader fuel strategy, which includes multiple pathways to source fuel.”
Why This Matters to Investors
Oklo and other nuclear energy stocks have been boosted in recent years by the push into clean energy by big tech companies looking to secure power sources for their data centers. Tuesday’s announcement could be a sign that Oklo is progressing toward deploying its reactors.
“Fuel supply constraints are a key throttle to advanced reactor development,” Oklo CEO Jacob DeWitte said. “This program creates a pathway to use existing surplus material as bridge fuel for advanced reactors to bring more reactors online sooner. Material that has been set aside for disposal can instead be converted into fuel to produce electricity through fission.”
Wedbush analysts said they don’t see the announcement as a “timeline accelerant” for Oklo, with its first reactor still expected to come online in late 2027 or early 2028, but said it is an “additive to Oklo’s multi-pronged fuel strategy,” keeping their outperform rating and $110 price target.
Oklo shares jumped as much as 11% early Tuesday to above $73 but were trading around $70 recently. With Tuesday’s gains, the stock is back near where it started the year but still down more than 60% from last October’s record highs, as investors have grown concerned about the company’s timeline for revenue and profitability.
