Prediction: This $60 Nuclear Stock Will Outperform the S&P 500 This Year

Nuclear energy plant upstart Oklo (OKLO +2.36%) is off to a sluggish begin in 2026. Its shares are down greater than 18% 12 months to this point in comparison with a decline of about 3% for the S&P 500. There are a number of eventualities, nevertheless, through which Oklo’s shares might outperform the S&P 500 this 12 months.

Oklo’s Aurora powerhouses are small modular reactors (SMRs) that use recycled nuclear gasoline and are designed to function for as much as 10 years earlier than needing refueling. Demand for nuclear energy is rising, thanks each to President Donald Trump’s emphasis on the know-how and the nation’s rising energy wants, that are largely being pushed by the fast buildout of electricity-hungry synthetic intelligence knowledge facilities.

There are good explanation why buyers could also be cautious about the inventory. Oklo is a pre-revenue firm, and as such, its volatility is thru the roof. Its shares have ranged over the previous two years between $17.42 and $193.84. However, listed below are 4 explanation why Oklo ought to outperform the S&P 500 this 12 months.

It ought to add extra contracts to its cope with Meta

On Jan. 9, Meta Platforms signed a cope with Oklo below which the tech big will assist the smaller firm’s effort to deploy a 1.2 gigawatt (GW) energy campus in Pike County, Ohio. That campus will generate energy for Meta’s knowledge facilities in the area. By prepaying for that energy, Meta will fund the undertaking’s progress. The day the deal was introduced, Oklo’s shares jumped by practically $8 to shut at $105.31.

Oklo has an 18 GW pipeline. If it may signal extra offers with hyperscalers or comparable companions, analysts’ and buyers’ opinions of the inventory would rise significantly.

One doable buyer is Oraclewhich has said its want to construct knowledge middle campuses with house for small nuclear reactors on website. Oracle’s Stargate collaboration with OpenAI in Texas would require ample gigawatts, and Oklo’s Aurora powerhouse could be a logical selection for the behind-the-meter SMR deployment Oracle would favor. Oracle lately disputed reviews that the undertaking was stalled, however even whether it is, Meta has proven an curiosity in stepping in and utilizing the knowledge middle, and it already has a relationship with Oklo.

Image supply: Getty Images.

It is in a powerful monetary place

Oklo’s struggle chest is kind of spectacular for a corporation that’s at present pre-revenue. Its monetary technique has shifted from a lean start-up to a well-capitalized industrial participant, largely because of profitable capital raises all through 2025, with a secondary public providing in June and an ATM fairness program it rolled out in December.

The firm ended the third quarter with $1.2 billion in money and marketable securities on its books. It additionally has little long-term debt, which supplies it a giant benefit over its rivals in the present higher-interest-rate atmosphere.

Based on administration’s steering for an annual working money burn of $65 million to $80 million, the firm has greater than 10 years of runway if its spending stays secure. Now, Oklo will probably begin to spend extra money when it begins building on its 1.2 GW energy campus, however that can even be its first step towards creating long-term income streams. The firm misplaced $29.7 million in the third quarter.

Oklo will ship its fourth-quarter outcomes on March 17, and any excellent news that report brings might assist the inventory as nicely.

The Aurora powerhouse might obtain accelerated approval

In November, the Department of Energy accredited the Nuclear Safety Design Agreement for Oklo’s Aurora Fuel Manufacturing Facility at Idaho National Laboratory. That’s a giant step, and if the Nuclear Regulatory Commission grants accelerated approval for the Aurora powerhouse at the laboratory, it might sign to the markets that the firm’s know-how is legitimate.

It has already damaged floor on the Idaho website. Now, Oklo should wade by way of the regulatory course of, together with regulatory pre-application and licensing submissions.

The worth of oil will probably stay excessive

Higher oil costs will solely speed up the development towards larger use of nuclear energy. The volatility of fossil gasoline costs helps assist the enterprise case for next-generation nuclear suppliers.

With Brent crude crossing the $100-per-barrel mark and West Texas Intermediate crude up by greater than 80% since the begin of 2026 attributable to the Iran struggle, the narrative round nuclear has shifted from inexperienced vitality to vitality stability. Hyperscalers which are relying closely on pure gasoline era to satisfy their electrical energy wants face monetary dangers.

Oklo’s mannequin is to personal its reactors and promote the electrical energy they generate by way of long-term energy buy agreements (PPAs). That technique provides their prospects a set worth for 20 years. It’s a mannequin that is trying more and more engaging to purchasers as oil and pure gasoline costs rise.

Hyperscalers aren’t the solely potential purchasers for Oklo. Industrial firms that use oil or pure gasoline for “process heat” (akin to chemical crops or refineries) usually tend to see the enchantment in switching to Oklo’s high-temperature quick reactors when their present gasoline payments double.