Nuclear Energy Stocks Surge Amid AI-Driven Power Demand Expectations

Sam Altman-Backed Oklo Stock Gets Price Target Hike From Wedbush On Hopes Of AI Raising Power Demand - Oklo (NYSE:OKLO)

Wedbush Securities on Friday raised its price target on energy company Oklo Inc. OKLO to $45 from $26 while maintaining an "outperform" rating citing increased confidence in the AI revolution data center buildout increasing under the new Trump Administration. What Happened: Oklo, backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, is developing nuclear fission power plants to provide energy at scale. Wedbush said in a note on Friday that it believes nuclear energy will ultimately play a key role in powering data centers, given Project Stargate is merely the start of a larger AI initiative. Given Altman's key AI role, Oklo too, will be a major player, Wedbush said. According to Wedbush, the "AI revolution" is driving demand for clean energy to power AI initiatives with the need for computing power only expected to grow. Oklo, it says, is in a great position to capitalize on the elevated demand. Further, the company's business model involves selling its power directly to customers and not the reactors under long-term contracts, enabling it to make long-term recurring revenues, it said. Why It Matters: Oklo, however, is yet to make a revenue and reported a net loss of over $63 million for the nine months through the end of September. Oklo shares closed up 7.8% at $41.82 on Friday. The stock is up 91.4% year-to-date, according to data from Benzinga Pro. Oklo has a consensus price target of $28.67 based on the ratings of 4 analysts tracked by Benzinga and a consensus "buy" rating. Earlier this month, Citigroup increased the stock's target price to $31 from $10, while maintaining a "neutral" rating. Read Next: Trump's Tariff Hikes Could Stoke Consumer Inflation Jitters, Challenge Fed, Goldman Sachs Warns Photo courtesy: Oklo OKLOOklo Inc$42.058.43%WatchlistOverviewMarket News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

AI Optimism Has Lifted This Nuclear Stock 100% This Month. What's Next?

Investors should monitor major support levels on Oklo's chart around $23 and $17. Oklo (OKLO) shares surged to another record high Friday as investors continue to bid up nuclear energy companies on expectations of growing energy demand to support artificial intelligence infrastructure. The latest round of investor enthusiasm came after the announcement this week of a $500 billion AI infrastructure development project. The initiative, a joint venture between Oracle (ORCL), OpenAI, and Japan's SoftBank, bodes well in particular for Oklo. The nuclear company is backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and could win energy agreements to power data centers built under the project. Oklo shares were up 10% at $42.50 in afternoon trading Friday. The stock has doubled since the start of 2025, leading a big rally for nuclear energy companies. Below, we take a closer look at Oklo's chart and apply technical analysis to point out key price levels worth watching out for. After a volume-backed breakout above key resistance in mid-October, Oklo shares consolidated within a falling wedge for several months before breaking out above the pattern in late December. Since that time, the stock has continued to trend sharply higher, with gains accelerating on increasing share turnover in recent trading sessions, suggesting institutional buying participation. While the relative strength index (RSI) confirms the stock's strong price momentum, the indicator has moved into overbought territory, raising the prospect of short-term profit taking. Let's turn to Oklo's chart to forecast a bullish price target and identify major support levels that could come into focus during pullbacks. Investors can forecast a bullish target by using bars pattern analysis, a technique that studies prior trends to anticipate future price movements, based on the assumption that price history often rhymes. When applying the tool to Oklo's chart, we take the price bars comprising the stock's trend from early September to late October and reposition them from last month's low. This projects a bullish target of around $75, a location where investors may decide to lock in profits. We selected this prior move because it also commenced from the lower trendline of an earlier falling wedge pattern on the chart and closely mimics the current uptrend. During profit-taking, investors should initially keep track of the $23 level. This area on the chart encounters a confluence of support from the recent retest of the 50-day moving average and a series of comparable price points stretching back to late October. Finally, selling below this level could see Oklo shares decline to around $17. Investors may seek entry points in this region near a horizontal line than links the prominent April and May peaks with last month's trough. The comments, opinions, and analyses expressed on Investopedia are for informational purposes only. Read our warranty and liability disclaimer for more info.

NuScale, Oklo and Other Nuclear Stocks Soar on Anticipation of AI's Growing Energy Needs

Shares of Oklo, which is backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, surged close to 14% Thursday and have added almost 50% this week since reports of the initiative emerged. Nuclear energy stocks roared higher Thursday, extending gains earlier in the week as President Donald Trump's announcement of a $500 billion joint venture with Oracle (ORCL), OpenAI, and SoftBank to build AI infrastructure reinforced expectations of growing energy demand to support AI. Shares of nuclear energy startup Oklo (OKLO), which is backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, surged close to 14% Thursday and have added almost 50% this week, as reports of the project emerged Tuesday. Markets in the U.S. were closed Monday. NuScale Power (SMR) shares also jumped nearly 14% Thursday, adding 32% this week. Meanwhile, Vistra (VST) shares climbed close to 3% Thursday and have gained 12% for the week so far. Constellation Energy (CEG), which has a contract with Stargate partner and OpenAI backer Microsoft (MSFT), rose 4% Thursday, bringing its gains for the week to about 9%. Shares of Constellation and rival Vistra have exploded over the past year, nearly tripling and quintupling in the last 12 months, respectively. Shares of Nano Nuclear Energy (NNE) jumped 17% Thursday after the company was awarded patents related to its designs for a modular transportable nuclear generator. The company is developing portable reactors designed to be used in remote locations. Its stock has climbed more than 70% so far this month.