Nuclear stocks slide despite billions in Trump administration aid

Most listed nuclear firms that have obtained a loan, contract or other financial incentive from the Trump administration have seen their shares fall since the support arrived.

Over the past year, the administration has directed tens of billions of dollars in incentives to the nuclear industry, including a new $4.2 billion federal loan announced today for Vistra, the operator of an Ohio nuclear plant.

Vistra's shares have fallen 9% so far this year.

A separate $80 billion proposal involving Cameco and Brookfield Asset Management would have awarded the US government 20% of future profits or equity in the public-private partnership.

Cameco's stock is 3% lower year to date.

Cameco's shares jumped 22% when the deal was unveiled in October. They now trade 12% below the level seen on that announcement date. Brookfield Asset Management, the other party to the deal, has lost 15% year to date and has done even worse since October.

NuScale, a nuclear power company, said on October 29 that its private partner ENTRA1 Energy is in line to receive as much as $25 billion in US-Japanese investment under Trump's international trade deal. Politico called ENTRA1 a three-year-old startup with a skeleton staff.

Since that announcement, NuScale's stock has plunged 81%.

Nuclear support under Trump has arrived ahead of share declines

A $1 billion loan to bring the Crane nuclear plant in Pennsylvania back online was secured by Constellation Energy, a publicly traded company, in November 2025.

Since that news, its stock has declined 19%.

A $400 million Energy Department award went to Holtec in December 2025. The Michigan nuclear plant owner had already received at least six disbursements from a $1.52 billion guarantee finalized under the Biden administration.

This month, Holtec halted its planned IPO aimed at retail investors.

The US Energy Department awarded Centrus Energy a $900 million uranium enrichment task order on January 6, 2026.

Since receiving that contract from the Trump administration, Centrus shares have slid 54%.

A conditional loan of $17.5 billion for equipment on 10 Westinghouse reactors co-owned by Cameco was offered by the Energy Department on June 23.

Since that day, Cameco's stock has fallen 15%.

On August 17, X-energy was told that a further $1 billion in Energy Department cost-sharing for nuclear generators would be coming its way. Its April IPO was priced at $23 a share, and the stock now sits below $15.

The shares are also 10% below their intraday high from the day the $1 billion Trump administration incentive arrived.

Up to $2.2 billion was awarded to nuclear microreactor builders, BWX Technologies among them, by Trump's US Army on August 26.

After dropping more than 20% year to date, BWX Technologies shares have been little changed since the announcement.

NextEra Energy finalized a federal loan of up to $1.9 billion on September 8 to restart the only nuclear power plant in Iowa.

Already, NextEra's shares have fallen 7% in four weeks.