Avi Salzman

President Donald Trump talks a lot about promoting American oil and gas drilling. But the industry that he appears to be generating the most optimism for is nuclear power. On Friday, nuclear fuel company Centrus Energy stock shot 30% higher after the company said its revenue rose nearly 40% last year, and that it expects much more growth ahead. The news helped other nuclear stocks, too. Small reactor-maker Oklo jumped 18% on Friday, and is already up 158% this year.

Centrus, based in Bethesda, Md., is one of the few American companies that enriches uranium. That's a key part of the process of turning mined uranium into the useful stuff that can power nuclear reactors or weapons. Currently, there's minimal nuclear-enrichment capacity in the U.S., leaving the country heavily dependent on countries such as Russia.

Part of Centrus' business involves importing Russian uranium to the U.S. for delivery to utilities. But the company is now ramping up its own enrichment efforts using centrifuges at U.S. factories. Centrus says it is the only corporation that makes its centrifuges in the U.S.

Centrus won contracts to enrich uranium under the Biden administration, and expects to expand those kinds of deals under Trump. Centrus CEO Amir Vexler said on the company's earnings call that his company is in the perfect position to benefit from the new administration's priorities.

"The new administration, as seen from Secretary of Energy Chris Wright's confirmation testimony, appears to be particularly bullish about the need to restore American owned production of enriched uranium," Vexler said.

"Our project presents the perfect opportunity for the president to deliver a major win in his efforts to restore American manufacturing and American energy independence," Vexler said. "As I've previously noted, this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reclaim U.S. leadership, and our nation cannot afford to squander it."

Nuclear investors clearly see it as an opportunity they don't want to squander either.

Write to Avi Salzman at avi.salzman@barrons.com

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February 07, 2025 12:32 ET (17:32 GMT)

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