Why Is Oklo Stock Surging?

Oklo (NYSE:OKLO), the nuclear energy startup backed by OpenAI’s Sam Altman, jumped nearly 10% in Tuesday trading. So, what’s fueling the excitement? For starters, New York just announced plans to build a major new nuclear power plant – the first in the U.S. in over 15 years. Governor Kathy Hochul is backing the project, which will add at least 1 gigawatt of capacity, and it comes as President Trump renews his push to fast-track permitting for large infrastructure projects. Although Oklo hasn’t been named in the potential New York project, the news has reignited interest in the broader nuclear comeback story and this has helped new-age nuclear firms like Oklo.

There’s also the geopolitical angle. Tensions between Israel and Iran remain, with Iran threatening to block the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for global oil shipments. If that happens, oil prices could spike and when energy prices surge, alternative energy sources including nuclear begin to look a lot more attractive to investors and policymakers. There are probably some technical factors at play as well. Oklo stock slid nearly 20% over the past four sessions and Tuesday’s big rally could partly be due to investors jumping back in at a discount.

Oklo is building compact, fast-spectrum microreactors that aim to deliver clean, safe, and cost-effective power. The company’s Aurora line of reactors aims for power capacity ranging from 15 to over 100 megawatts. This is a sharp departure from traditional nuclear power plants in the United States, which average about 1,000 megawatts. This translates into a smaller and much more flexible footprint. The reactors use fast neutrons and liquid-metal cooling, avoiding the complexity of high-pressure systems while improving fuel efficiency and safety.

One of Oklo’s signature innovations is its use of recycled nuclear waste as fuel, transforming a long-standing challenge into a valuable clean energy resource. With 10-year running times and no need for handling fuel on site, these microreactors could be well-suited to remote and high-demand use cases such as AI data centers, industrial sites, and defense installations. While AI is a hot trend, Crypto is back in vogue too. See Circle Stock: Is A 2x Rise Possible?

Valuation Risks

That said, Oklo stock is not just risky, it is also a hard company to value. Its financials are not meaningful at this stage, as it remains pre-revenue. The plan is to build, operate, and directly sell electricity to customers via long-term contracts, with plants expected to go online only starting from around 2028 to 2029. Until then, the company will be burning through significant cash to fund research, development, and regulatory efforts – without any commercial revenues to offset the costs.

This could create pressure to raise additional capital, potentially diluting existing shareholders or requiring the company to take on debt. Even once the technology is validated and deployed, manufacturing at scale will be a major hurdle – one that has tripped up many high-profile startups. The transition from prototype to full-scale production often comes with its own set of technical and operational challenges. Oklo currently trades at about $60 per share, with a market cap of about $9 billion.

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