Better Nuclear Energy Stock to Buy After the Sell-Off: Oklo vs. X-Energy
Key Points
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Oklo and X-Energy both produce innovative next-gen reactors.
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But one of these stocks looks overvalued relative to its long-term growth potential.
The nuclear energy market cooled off for roughly a decade after the 2011 Fukushima disaster prompted many countries to throttle or pause their nuclear projects. But the market heated up again in recent years, driven by new decarbonization initiatives, safer nuclear technologies, and the insatiable energy demands of the cloud, AI, and industrial automation markets.
Oklo (NYSE: OKLO) and X-Energy (NASDAQ: XE) are two new companies seeking to capitalize on the nuclear market‘s resurgence. Both companies develop next-gen nuclear reactors with significant advantages over conventional reactors.
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Oklo went public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) on May 10, 2024, and started trading at $15.50. It closed at an all-time high of $174.14 on Oct. 14, 2025, but now trades at about $28. X-Energy went public via a traditional IPO at $23 on April 24, 2026, set a record high of $35.98 just three days later, but now trades at $11.
Both companies are hard to value because they haven’t deployed any commercial reactors, they’re racking up steep losses, and they look expensive relative to their near-term sales. Should you buy either of these volatile stocks as a long-term play on the nuclear market?
The differences between Oklo and X-Energy
Conventional nuclear reactors typically generate more than 1,000 MWe. X-Energy produces small modular reactors (SMRs), which generate 80 MWe. It typically sells its Xe-100 SMRs in groups of four, generating 320 MWe per deployment. Oklo’s Aurora microreactors — an even smaller subcategory of SMRs — generate 15 MWe to 75 MWe per unit.
Oklo houses its Aurora microreactors in individual “Powerhouses” that look like small A-frame chalets, and it builds additional Powerhouses to generate more power at a single site. X-Energy deploys its SMRs in a modular manner to create a single plant. Oklo plans to directly sell energy to its customers, while X-Energy plans to sell its reactors to utilities and industrial companies.
Conventional nuclear reactors are cooled by water, a major operational hurdle and strategic constraint in building new nuclear plants. But to cool their smaller reactors, Oklo uses liquid sodium, and X-Energy uses helium. Both cooling technologies are safer than water-cooled reactors, which are less heat-resistant, generate more pressure, and output more waste.
Oklo and X-Energy also don’t use low-enriched uranium (LEU), the most common fuel for conventional nuclear reactors. Oklo uses metallic uranium fuel pellets, which offer better thermal resistance and lower fabrication costs than LEU. It also recycles those pellets in a closed loop, so its reactors can last for a decade without refueling. By comparison, conventional nuclear reactors still need to be refueled every two years.
X-Energy’s high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGR) consume TRISO (tri-structural isotropic) particle “pebbles” — a form of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) designed for SMRs. These pebbles can withstand much higher temperatures than water-cooled SMRs, and they’re continuously refueled — so they never need dedicated refuelings. However, X-Energy must produce its own proprietary TRISO pebbles to fuel those reactors.
But when will Oklo and X-Energy deploy their first reactors?
Oklo has a backlog of 18 GW, including a 12 GW deal with the data center builder Switch, a 1.2 GW deal with Meta Platforms, and a 500 GW deal with the data center giant Equinix. It plans to start deploying its first commercial reactors in 2027.
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If that happens, analysts expect Oklo’s revenue to soar from less than $3 million in 2026 (mainly from consulting and engineering services) to $51 million in 2028 as it deploys more reactors. But they also expect its net loss to widen from $161 million in 2026 to $210 million in 2028. With a market cap of $5.1 billion, Oklo already trades at 100 times its 2028 sales.
X-Energy also has a robust 11.5 GW pipeline, including a 6 GW deal with Centrica, a 5 GW deal with Amazon, and a 320 MW deal with Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW). However, it won’t deploy its first SMRs until the early 2030s.
Until then, X-Energy will generate most of its revenue from engineering services, government grants, and technical partnerships. From 2026 to 2028, analysts expect its revenue to rise from $212 million to $1.2 billion, while its net loss narrows from $430 million to $125 million. With a market cap of $3.0 billion, X-Energy trades at just 2.5 times its 2028 sales.
The better buy: X-Energy
Oklo trades at a premium to X-Energy because it’s closer to its first commercial deployments, doesn’t need to produce its own fuel, and has greater long-term growth potential as a direct energy provider. However, too much of that growth is already baked into its valuations.
X-Energy’s approach is slower, more fragmented, and more capital-intensive, but it seems undervalued relative to its growth potential. That’s why I’d rather buy X-Energy instead of Oklo.
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Leo Sun has positions in Amazon and Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Equinix, and Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.