Oklo rises as Barclays initiates the stock at “overweight”
Trendy nuclear power stock Oklo received a bullish review from Wall Street on Monday, with Barclays analysts starting coverage of the stock at “overweight” — basically a “buy” rating — alongside a price target of $146, a more than 30% premium to Friday’s close.
The underlying rationale is, of course, the AI data center boom, which is already boosting electricity demand — and raising utility bills — and is projected to do so for years to come.
Shares were up 5.8% premarket. Before today, the stock had soared more than 50% over the past month, but that includes a bit of a retrenchment over the past few sessions.
As a maker of small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs), Oklo and similar companies like Nuscale are seen as providing a possible technology that can bridge the growing gap between supply and projected demand.
But this is all very speculative, as these companies are not actually producing much of anything at the moment besides outstanding stock market returns.
Barclays analysts note that Oklo’s business currently encompasses a series of “non-binding agreements with various customers, such as data centers, military outposts, etc,” and Wall Street forecasts annual losses for the company through 2028.
Barclays analysts write of the shares:
