Title: The Nuclear Stock Boom Could Keep Decaying Publication: The Wall Street Journal — Markets A.M. newsletter Author: Spencer Jakab Date: 2026-09-17 (article:published_time 2026-09-17T10:34:00Z) URL: https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/the-nuclear-stock-boom-could-keep-decaying-67d78958 Length: ~7 min read (written article — no timestamps) Note: Written article captured from Stephen's logged-in WSJ session via Claude-in-Chrome, so there are no (mm:ss) cues. This file is a DETAILED STRUCTURED DIGEST of the article — facts, figures, attributions and a few short quoted phrases — rather than the full verbatim body, because the piece is copyrighted Dow Jones material (same convention as wsj/archive/2026-sep-14). Read the original at the URL above.
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LEAD — the Fed - Four possible outcomes at Wednesday's FOMC, from "dovish hold" to "hawkish hike"; Warsh and colleagues chose the hawkish end: a unanimous vote, with more hikes signaled. - Initial shock after Warsh's press conference, but stock futures pointed to healthy gains the next morning and long-term bonds caught a bid. - Market snapshot: S&P 500 futures ~7,689 (+0.9%); Nasdaq 100 futures +1.2%; 10-year ~4.97%; crude ~$100.7 (-1.7%); gold ~$4,366.
THE MAIN PIECE — nuclear stocks - Nuclear energy was a hot trade last year. The long-term future is bright, but investors who chased the latter stages of the rally are nursing losses. - Some names are down well over half from their peaks, yet valuations "mostly remain too hot." - Latest bad news: Bloomberg reported Holtec (nuclear services, private) postponed its IPO, which had been expected to price that day.
WHY THE EXCITEMENT - The AI build-out drove hyperscaler demand for low-carbon power; long-term contracts with nuclear providers were the ideal answer, since solar and wind can't match nuclear's reliable baseload. - New reactors take years just to get off the drawing board or be reactivated, however supportive governments are. - Microsoft and Amazon signed "behind the meter" deals with owners of existing or soon-to-start plants. That bypasses the grid on paper, but for nuclear it simply diverts power utilities could have sold.
SMRs AND FUEL — the speculative end - Mass-producible small modular reactors are the "Holy Grail." - Unprofitable reactor companies such as NuScale (SMR) and fuel providers such as Centrus (LEU) drew huge investor interest. - Oklo (OKLO), the hottest, originally backed by Sam Altman, rallied nearly 3,000% in a little over a year. - The road has been longer and bumpier than expected: UBS downgraded NuScale to sell, questioning its path to profitability — even though its design looks closer to commercialization than some peers'. - X-Energy (XE), modular reactor + fuel company backed by Amazon, IPO'd this year: +23% on day one to a nearly $12B market cap, then a steady slide that has cut its value by more than half.
THE "SAFER" WAY — and its catch - Large, profitable utilities with reactor fleets, e.g. Constellation Energy (CEG) and NRG Energy (NRG). - But they have become unusually popular for a staid sector: Citigroup lists both among the most "crowded" utility stocks. - Few established companies other than miners give direct exposure, and many of those are speculative or near the top of their valuation ranges.
CONCLUSION - The smart move might be to wait for nuclear to go out of fashion again, which happens roughly every decade. The technology and demand are real, but the AI boom's glow "can still cause burns."
STOCKS I'M WATCHING (news blurbs) - Generac (GNRC): up 30%+ premarket on a $2.4B deal to sell data-center generators to Amazon. - Lennar (LEN): cut full-year delivery target on rate pressure and a worsening housing market; Q3 revenue and profit fell; shares down premarket. - Volvo Cars: largest-ever product push, 13 new models by decade's end; shares up in Europe. - Diamondback Energy (FANG): largest shareholder sold nearly $2B of stock; shares fell 8%, lower premarket. - ExxonMobil (XOM): close to a preliminary deal to explore investments in several Venezuelan oil fields, nearly two decades after exiting.
ONE BIG CHART - Iran-linked militants took out arguably the world's most important oil pipeline. A route for crude through Hormuz, plus Saudi Arabia's record of fast repairs, are now the best hope to cool oil prices.
WHAT I'M READING (headlines only) - Fed hike-cycle expectations after Warsh (WSJ); a former Anthropic researcher's public resignation and warning (WSJ); self-training AI risks (WSJ); a possible Anthropic IPO within weeks (Barron's); the risks of index investing (Morningstar).
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About the author: Spencer Jakab writes the WSJ Markets A.M. newsletter; previously edited the Heard on the Street team for a decade, wrote two investment books, and ran an equity-analyst team at a global bank. Source material (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Saved for personal study only.