Score one for a business that can effectively respond to a detractor. NuScale Power (SMR 2.89%) saw its share price rise by over 6% on Tuesday following a feisty punch-back from the company. Its response to a highly critical short-seller report was celebrated by the market, with the stock's increase well exceeding the 0.7% advance of the S&P 500 index.
NuScale rips apart the short-seller report
Last Thursday, a short seller called Iceberg Research published that report. Among other allegations, Iceberg said that several of NuScale's current contracts to supply its small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) had little chance of reaching completion.
NuScale came out swinging on Tuesday. It published a terse yet, at times, strongly worded reaction to Iceberg's slew of accusations. The company described the report as "riddled with speculative statements with no basis in fact."
It added that the document "demonstrates a limited understanding of small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) and the nuclear power industry."
While NuScale didn't offer a point-by-point critique of the report, it did expound on several items it felt to be important. It implied that a client mentioned rather critically in its pages, Standard Power, has sufficient financial means to complete its current contract with NuScale. It also defended its own financial situation and went into some detail about its three sources of income: product sales, support, and services.
Its leader says the company is debt-free and unique
In conclusion, NuScale quoted its CEO John Hopkins as saying that:
Not only do we have a solid, debt-free balance sheet and a talented and dedicated team, but we are years ahead of the global competition as the only SMR technology provider and producer with U.S. regulatory approval and that is ready for commercial deployment.