Up Over 500% This Year: Not Nearly Enough People Are Talking About This Stock

Key Points

• Oklo is designing microreactors that could provide 24/7 power to AI data centers.

• The company has policy winds at its back and recently broke ground on its first Aurora powerhouse in Idaho.

• Pre-revenue, with significant cash burn, this nuclear stock remains a high-risk, high-reward play.

• 10 stocks we like better than Oklo ›

It's not every year that a nuclear start-up surges 500% year to date and still gets less chatter than the latest artificial intelligence (AI) start-up.

And yet here we are with advanced nuclear company Oklo (NYSE: OKLO).

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The stock has gone from relative obscurity to a $19 billion market valuation in under a year, outpacing not only rivals like NuScale (NYSE: SMR), but also Wall Street favorites like Nvidia and Palantir.

Yet unlike those big tech giants, Oklo isn't selling chips or software. In fact, as of today, it isn't selling anything at all. It's pre-revenue, pre-license, and doesn't even have a nuclear facility operating commercially.

What it has, however, is an intriguing idea (plus a lot of cash): tiny reactors that can run for a decade or more on specialized fuel. It's the kind of energy that's needed for those same big tech giants that are becoming increasingly energy-hungry: a clean, reliable source for 24/7 power.

That's the promise. But whether it's worth the current price or not depends on how much faith you're willing to put into Oklo's timeline and execution.

Image source: Getty Images.

What Oklo is designing, and why it matters

Oklo is an advanced nuclear company that's developing an Aurora powerhouse, basically a small modular reactor that's expected to generate upward of 75 megawatts of power.

These powerhouses are being engineered to run on a specialized fuel -- high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) -- that allows them to run for a decade or more without refueling. For context, many of today's reactors typically shut down every 1.5 to 2 years for new fuel assemblies.

Global data centers will need about 84 GW of power in three years -- and Oklo could supply some of it

To be sure, Aurora's power generation (75 megawatts) is only a drop in the bucket of power that will be needed in the near future. At present, Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) estimates the global data center market alone consumes about 55 gigawatts (GW) of power, a number that's expected to grow to 84 GW by 2027.

But therein lies Oklo's advantage. Its Aurora powerhouses are small and modular and can be assembled near data center campuses. What's more, they can be strung together to amplify their 24/7 power generation. Since the average hyperscale data center needs 100 MW or more, a network of two or more Auroras could hypothetically meet its needs.

Another interesting fact about Oklo: It aims to recycle fuel. Its planned $1.68 billion Advanced Fuel Center in Tennessee is pitched as the first privately funded U.S. facility to turn nuclear waste into fresh metallic fuel. If it works, it could cut operating costs and help Oklo secure a supply chain of what could be the equivalent of 1.3 trillion barrels of oil in recyclable fuel.

The numbers don't add up (yet)

All of that sounds great. Fantastic, even. But here's the kicker: Right now, Oklo's designs are mostly hypothetical, with no Aurora powerhouse governmentally sanctioned to operate.

To date, the company is still trying to get regulatory approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to operate its Aurora design. The company applied in 2022, but was rejected for missing information on its application. In July 2025, it completed a "pre-application readiness assessment." It's progress, but it's only Phase 1, and until a license is granted, the company's ideas will remain untested at scale.

That's a problem for Oklo. The company isn't generating revenue and is expected to burn between $65 million and $80 million in cash for 2025.

Policy winds at its back

That said, Oklo isn't up a creek without a paddle. The White House has sent clear signals that it wants to develop and deploy advanced nuclear reactors, and Oklo's stock is in a position to benefit from it. An executive order from President Donald Trump, along with a recent joint initiative between the U.S. and U.K. to speed up safety checks on microreactors, have given Oklo a vote of confidence that could move it steadily through the regulatory process.

Along those lines, Oklo's Aurora design was recently chosen by the Department of Energy to participate in a Reactor Pilot Program. Its powerhouse was one of three projects awarded (another went to its subsidiary, Atomic Alchemy), and it could see its first powerhouse up and running by late 2027.

Indeed, as of Sept. 22, 2025, Oklo broke ground on the construction of its first Aurora in Idaho -- a relief for investors who have wanted to see something materialize.

So, is Oklo a buy?

Oklo trades at about 28 times book value, so it's not cheap (its rival NuScale trades at about 9 times book value). As such, a lot of expectation is already baked into today's price.

Aggressive investors with a long-term perspective may want to open a small position. Others who want to capture this market but don't want to risk it all in one start-up may be better served by a nuclear energy exchange-traded fund (ETF).

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Steven Porrello has positions in NuScale Power, Nvidia, and Oklo. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Goldman Sachs Group, Nvidia, and Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool recommends NuScale Power. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.