Many nuclear energy stocks declined significantly in the decade following the 2011 Fukushima disaster. The spot price of uranium collapsed, dropping from a peak of $136 per pound in July 2007 to a trough of $18 in November 2016, as more countries paused their nuclear projects.
Yet, over the past few years, the nuclear energy market has warmed up again as new decarbonization initiatives have prompted more companies to revisit atomic power. The growth of the power-hungry cloud, high-performance computing (HPC), and artificial intelligence (AI) markets drove more nuclear companies to develop smaller and more scalable reactors. At the same time, geopolitical conflicts in uranium-rich regions capped the global supply of uranium.
Image source: Getty Images.
Those tailwinds lifted uranium's spot price back to $81.55 per pound at the end of 2025, and some bullish analysts expect its price to hit $100 in 2026 and $140 in 2027. Between 2024 and 2050, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) anticipates a global nuclear capacity increase of up to 2.5 times. To capitalize on this secular growth trend, investors should consider adding a few promising nuclear stocks to their portfolios. Two of those bellwether stocks are Cameco (CCJ 0.13%) and Centrus Energy (LEU +7.24%). Let's see which one is a better buy today.
The differences between Cameco and Centrus
Cameco, which is based in Canada, mined 17% of the world's uranium in 2024. It's the second largest uranium miner after Kazakhstan's Kazatomprom (NATK.Y 4.64%). It shut down its two largest mines as uranium's spot prices plummeted, but reopened them in 2022.
Cameco also holds a 49% stake in Global Laser Enrichment (GLE), its uranium enrichment joint venture with Silex (SILXY 4.34%). Its future integration of GLE's laser-power uranium enrichment capabilities (which are not yet commercialized) into its core mining and conversion businesses could gradually transform it into a "one-stop shop" for enriched uranium.
In 2023, Cameco partnered with Brookfield Asset Management (BAM 3.42%) to acquire Westinghouse Electric, a leading designer and builder of nuclear power plants. That new 49% stake in Westinghouse should complement its investment in GLE and offset the long-term volatility of its core mining business. Therefore, Cameco's evolution from a uranium miner into a more diversified nuclear energy company could make it a balanced play on this growing market.
NYSE: CCJ
Key Data Points
Centrus is one of the few U.S. companies licensed to sell low-enriched uranium (LEU), the fuel used in most commercial nuclear reactors. It's also the only publicly listed U.S. company that produces high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) for advanced nuclear reactors.
Centrus, once known as USEC, previously bought cheap LEU through the "Megatons to Megawatts" program -- a U.S.-Russia deal to dismantle Russian warheads and downblend those materials into LEU -- and resold that enriched LEU to U.S. utilities. When that deal ended in 2013, its core business vanished, its revenue plummeted, and it filed for bankruptcy protection in 2014.
After restructuring its business, Centrus emerged from bankruptcy as a smaller middleman that imported large quantities of LEU from global suppliers, such as Orano, and resold it to U.S. utilities. It also resumed enriching HALEU for small government contracts at its American Centrifuge Plant (ACP) in Ohio. The growth of that smaller HALEU business could significantly boost its sales as more energy companies develop advanced nuclear reactors.
NYSE: LEU
Key Data Points
Which company is growing faster?
From 2024 to 2027, analysts expect Cameco's revenue and earnings per share (EPS) to grow at a CAGR of 9% and 89%, respectively. Its stock isn't a bargain at 67 times this year's earnings, but its scale, diversification, and wide moat could support that higher valuation.
From 2024 to 2027, analysts expect Centrus' revenue and EPS to grow at a CAGR of 7% and 2%, respectively. However, its stock looks even pricier at 77 times this year's earnings. That premium likely reflects its growing backlog of LEU orders, which increased to $3.0 billion in the third quarter of 2025, as well as the future growth potential of its HALEU business.
The better buy: Cameco
Cameco and Centrus should both benefit from rising uranium prices and the growing demand for nuclear power. However, Cameco's leading position in the uranium mining market, the future growth of its laser-powered uranium enrichment services, and its stake in Westinghouse all make it a more balanced play on the nuclear market than Centrus. Cameco is also much larger than Centrus, yet it's growing faster and trades at a lower forward price-to-earnings ratio.
Centrus will have a bright future as the U.S. prioritizes its production of domestic LEU again, but it's highly dependent on government contracts and the development of next-gen reactors. Therefore, I'd stick with Cameco as my long-term play on the growing nuclear market.
