Nuclear Stocks Rally As Trump Plans To Boost Industry

Topline

Shares across the nuclear power industry surged Friday, following a report President Donald Trump planned to sign executive orders that would streamline construction of new reactors, as electricity output is expected to reach record highs in the U.S. over the next two years.

An earlier report suggested the Trump administration would streamline a process for new nuclear … More reactors.

AFP via Getty Images

Key Facts

Constellation Energy, the largest nuclear operator in the U.S., rose by 3% by Friday afternoon, while shares of uranium mining firms Uranium Energy (23%), Energy Fuels (17%), Cameco Corp. (9.5%) and Centrus Energy (22%) also spiked in value.

Shares of Oklo, the advanced reactor company backed by Sam Altman, jumped 25%, with gains across nuclear tech, including Nano Nuclear Energy (29%) and NuScale Power (16%)

Other nuclear companies like Vistra (1.9%) and GE Vernova (1.5%) had their shares increase Friday, while the Global X Uranium ETF, which trades among several uranium-backed stocks, jumped more than 10%.

Tangent

The nuclear industry is expected to benefit from a budget bill approved in the House on Thursday. The legislation, referred to by Trump as his “one big beautiful bill” and heavily opposed by Democrats, includes provisions that would reduce spending on Medicaid by nearly $700 billion and reduce spending for a national food assistance program, among others. Tax cuts are central to the bill, however, and feature more than $5 trillion in cuts, while about two-thirds of Americans would pay less in taxes by 2027. The bill also plans to cut tax credits for clean energy manufacturing by 2031, though tax credits for nuclear energy are preserved.

How Much Electricity Does The U.s. Use?

The Energy Information Administration reported earlier this month U.S. power output is expected to reach new record highs in 2025 and 2026 amid an increased demand from AI data centers, cryptocurrency and as more homes and businesses use more electricity. Electricity demand will increase to 4,205 billion kilowatt hours in 2025, breaking a record of 4,097 billion kWh in 2024 before hitting another record-high in 2026, the EIA said. A rising demand for AI development and more AI-powered technologies could raise the global data center power output by as much as 165%, according to an analysis by Goldman Sachs. In the U.S., some industry analysts forecast an increase in power demand at data centers to as high as 400 terawatt-hours by 2030, up from less than 100 terawatt-hours in 2020. Some researchers have warned about AI’s high demand for electricity, and others argue AI will use less energy as the technology becomes more efficient.

How Has The U.s. Stock Market Performed Friday?

Each of the three market indexes fell Friday, with losses across the Dow Jones Industrial Average (down 0.6%), the S&P 500 (0.7%) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (0.9%). A broader market selloff was led by Apple, after Trump warned on Truth Social the company faced tariffs of at least 25% if the company failed to shift iPhone production to the U.S. Other stocks like Nvidia (1%), Qualcomm (2%) and Micron (2%) also fell, as Trump said trade negotiations with the European Union are “going nowhere” and pushed for a 50% tariff on the bloc.

Key Background

Reuters reported Thursday, citing four sources familiar with the plans, that Trump was expected to sign an executive order Friday to invoke the Defense Production Act, which would declare a national emergency over U.S. dependence on Russia and China for enriched uranium, nuclear fuel processing and reactor inputs. Trump’s other orders would also ease the regulatory process on approving new reactors and strengthening fuel supply chains, according to a draft summary obtained by Reuters. Trump declared an emergency on energy shortly after his inauguration, arguing the U.S. has the “potential to use its unrealized energy resources domestically.” The Energy Information Administration reported earlier this month the U.S. power output is expected to reach new record highs in 2025 and 2026 amid an increased demand from AI data centers, cryptocurrency and as more homes and businesses use more electricity.