Nuclear energy stocks may have been too hot to touch in 2025, but so far this year, stocks like NuScale Energy (SMR 1.84%) have fallen out of favor. Shares in this developer of small modular reactors (SMRs) have fallen over 30% in 2026, and by over 75% over the past 12 months.
With shares at or below $10 per share, the question now is whether it's the right moment to bottom-fish or to avoid a possible value trap. Let's take a closer look and find out.
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The dust settles on a sell-off
With a $3.6 billion market cap, against around $1.1 billion in net assets, not to mention negative earnings, NuScale is clearly not a value stock. It's a speculative growth stock, valued mostly on future potential. Since late last year, there has been a spate of negative developments with this company.
NYSE: SMR
Key Data Points
These include concerns about a potential delay in one of the company's major projects, high cash burn and share dilution, and Fluor's sale of its NuScale stake. However, all these issues are fully known by the market. With so much negativity now baked in, the stock may be well positioned to overreact to positive news.
The ingredients are in place for a comeback
NuScale remains the only company in the world that has received regulatory approval for its SMR designs. SMRs, with their cost, safety, and convenience advantages over traditional nuclear power plants, could be the perfect renewable energy source for AI data centers. In fact, thanks to the data center boom, the International Energy Agency already anticipates that investment in SMRs, totaling $5 billion in 2025, will rise fivefold to $25 billion in 2030.
If these forecasts prove accurate, NuScale's project backlog could grow exponentially, providing the scale needed for NuScale to achieve consistent profitability. Even before the company reaches this milestone, progress with NuScale's ongoing projects, including one with the Tennessee Valley Authority, could spur the start of a recovery for shares. As shares hit new multi-year lows, now may be the time to take a closer look.
