SMR Stock Falls Ahead Of Q4 Earnings: AI Power Hype Faces Reality Check

Earlier in the year, investors cheered SMR stock based on DOE’s $2.7 billion commitment to strengthen the uranium supply chain.

• Wall Street analysts are expecting NuScale to post quarterly revenue of $8.76 million, compared with $34.22 million a year ago, according to data from Fiscal AI.
• Cantor Fitzgerald said optimism remains high regarding NuScale's commercialization prospects and long-term potential.
• In February, NuScale said it would partner with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to use an artificial intelligence-enabled nuclear design framework for a 12-NuScale Power Module configuration.

Shares of NuScale Power were down nearly 1% in overnight trading, heading for its second straight day of losses ahead of quarterly earnings as investors closely watch for the company’s development of power plants to serve the fast-growing energy demand from AI data centers.

NuScale’s stock has fallen nearly 7% so far this year, compared to the 21% decline witnessed last year. The company’s shares had seen a boost in January mainly due to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announcement committing $2.7 billion to strengthen the uranium supply chain.

Snapshot Of SMR’s Earnings Estimates

Wall Street analysts are expecting NuScale to post fourth-quarter revenue of $8.76 million, compared with $34.22 million a year ago, according to data from Fiscal AI. Analysts estimate the company to report a loss of $0.17 per share, compared to a loss of $0.77 per share a year earlier.

Cantor Fitzgerald cut the firm's price target on NuScale to $20 from $55 and maintained an ‘Overweight’ rating, according to TheFly. The firm said the price target is being lowered due to near-term headwinds, including Fluor's active share sales, potential pressure from at-the-market offerings, and delays from the RoPower announcement.

The firm said optimism remains high regarding NuScale's commercialization prospects and long-term potential. NuScale is set to report earnings on Thursday after the markets close.

NuScale’s AI-Based Nuclear Design

In February, NuScale said it would partner with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to use an artificial intelligence-enabled nuclear design framework for a 12-NuScale Power Module configuration to strategically explore how fuel could be managed even more efficiently and effectively across multiple reactors at a single site.

The U.S. DOE’s Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) initiative awarded funding to ORNL to collaborate with NuScale in this innovative research program. The GAIN initiative is housed within the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy, and GAIN provides technical, regulatory, and financial support needed to advance nuclear technology towards commercialization.

Big Tech Sharing Power

On Wednesday, CNBC reported that major technology companies such as Amazon, OpenAI, and Google are meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House next week to sign a pledge to power their artificial intelligence data centers with their own energy.

In mid-January, NuScale stock jumped on a push by the Trump Administration to have tech giants share the burden of rising power prices, and the construction of plants seemed to soothe investor worries.

“We’re telling the major tech companies that they have the obligation to provide for their own power needs,” Trump said on Tuesday, according to the report. “They can build their own power plants as part of their factory so that no one’s prices will go up.”

What Is Retail Thinking?

Retail sentiment on NuScale dipped to ‘bearish’ from ‘bullish’ a month ago, with message volumes at ‘normal’ levels, according to data from Stocktwits.

A bullish user on Stocktwits said, “Sooner or later, hyper scalers will be lobbying for these SMRs.”

In the last 24 hours, retail message volumes on the stock jumped 20% on Stocktwits, and over the past year, the company’s ticker added over 89% followers on the platform.

Shares of NuScale have fallen 14% in the last 12 months.

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