Editor's Note: This article has been edited to clarify the size of the vessels that contain NuScale's SMRs and correct that NuScale's SMRs approved by the NRC generate up to 50 megawatts of electricity, not 55 megawatts as previously stated.
Many renewable energy stocks ran out of juice over the past year as the Trump administration embraced fossil fuels and rattled the market with its divisive tariffs. However, that pullback might represent a golden buying opportunity if you expect the market's demand for renewable energy solutions to keep growing over the long term.
So if you're willing to tune out the near-term noise, these three renewable energy plays might generate some big returns from a modest $2,000 investment: NuScale Power (SMR +0.34%), Plug Power (PLUG 2.49%), and CleanSpark (CLSK +2.20%). All three of these stocks are speculative, but they could attract a lot more attention if they scale up their businesses.
Image source: Getty Images.
The nuclear play: NuScale Power
NuScale develops small modular reactors (SMRs) for nuclear power, which can be installed in vessels that are 15 feet wide and 65 feet tall. Its SMRs are also prefabricated, delivered, and assembled on site. Those advantages make them cheaper and easier to deploy than traditional nuclear reactors.
NuScale's SMRs are the only ones that have received a standard design approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), but that approval only covers its reactor modules that generate up to 50 megawatts of electricity.
NYSE: SMR
Key Data Points
For a cluster of SMRs to be more cost-effective than a comparable coal-fired plant, each module must generate at least 77 megawatts of electricity. NuScale expects the NRC to approve its 77 megawatt designs this year. Until then, it's generating most of its revenue as a subcontractor on a 462-megawatt power plant project for Romania's RoPower.
NuScale only generated $37 million in revenue in 2024, but analysts expect that figure to surge to $402 million in 2027. That growth could be driven by its new NRC design approvals, more contracts in the U.S., and the soaring energy needs of the booming data center market. With a market cap of nearly $4 billion, NuScale already trades at more than 5 times its 2027 sales -- but it has plenty of room to grow over the next few decades.
The hydrogen play: Plug Power
Plug Power develops hydrogen fuel cell, charging, storage, and transport technologies. It's deployed more than 69,000 fuel cell systems and over 250 fueling stations across the world, and it's the single largest buyer of liquid hydrogen.
Amazon and Walmart, which are invested in Plug Power through stock warrants, are two of its top customers. The two retail giants both use Plug's hydrogen fuel cells to power the electric forklifts in their warehouses.
In 2024, Plug Power's revenue declined 29% to $629 million as its net loss widened from $1.4 billion to $2.1 billion. That slowdown was caused by macro headwinds, which curbed the market's demand for new hydrogen charging projects, and tough comparisons to the inorganic expansion of its smaller cryogenics business in 2022 and 2023.
NASDAQ: PLUG
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But from 2024 to 2027, analysts expect Plug's revenue to grow at a CAGR of 32%. That growth could be driven by the stabilization of the hydrogen market, new contracts, and a $1.66 billion loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy for the construction of six green hydrogen manufacturing plants.
Plug Power won't turn profitable anytime soon, but it's been cutting its costs and selling some of its equipment (and leasing it back) to narrow its net losses. With a market cap of $1.2 billion, it trades at just 1.6 times this year's sales -- so any positive developments might drive its stock a lot higher over the next few years.
The clean crypto play: CleanSpark
CleanSpark originally built modular microgrids for wind, solar, and other renewable energy sources. These microgrids can be deployed as stand-alone power systems or plugged into existing energy grids -- where they're used to transfer energy into storage systems, load management solutions, and backup generators.
But four years ago, it acquired the Bitcoin miner ATL Data Centers and upgraded its miners with its microgrids. It subsequently acquired more Bitcoin miners, upgraded their plants in the same way, and mined more Bitcoins. That clean energy approach arguably made it more appealing than its coal-powered competitors.
NASDAQ: CLSK
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By the end of calendar 2024, CleanSpark was holding 9,952 Bitcoins -- which are worth $819 million as of this writing. That's 38% of its market capitalization of $2.1 billion. It also expanded its fleet by 127% year over year to 201,808 miners, which increased its operating hashrate (which gauges its mining efficiency) 288% to 39.1 EH/s (exahash per second).
From fiscal 2024 (ended last September) to 2027, analysts expect CleanSpark's revenue to grow from $379 million to $1.1 billion as it narrows its net losses. Assuming it matches those expectations, it still looks reasonably valued at 1.9 times its fiscal 2027 sales. It could certainly struggle if Bitcoin's price plunges, but it could outperform many other traditional Bitcoin miners if the cryptocurrency's price stabilizes, soars higher, and attracts more retail and institutional investors.
