New York, January 5, 2026, 19:30 EST — After-hours
- Oklo shares closed up 14.8% on Monday, holding steady in late trading.
- The move tracked a rally in nuclear-linked names after the U.S. Energy Department announced $2.7 billion in uranium-enrichment awards.
- Traders are watching follow-on federal fuel awards and Friday’s U.S. jobs report.
Oklo Inc. shares rose 14.8% on Monday and were little changed in after-hours trading, as investors piled into advanced nuclear names after the U.S. Energy Department moved to expand domestic uranium enrichment. The stock closed at $89.34.
The federal awards target high-assay low-enriched uranium, or HALEU — fuel enriched beyond the level used in most of today’s reactors — as well as standard low-enriched uranium, the department said. HALEU is uranium enriched between 5% and 20%, compared with about 5% for conventional reactor fuel. (Reuters)
Why it matters now: fuel supply has become a constraint for many next-generation reactor designs and small modular reactors — a catch-all term for smaller units pitched as faster to deploy. Oklo has warned investors that its “powerhouses” are expected to rely on HALEU and that difficulty accessing HALEU or recycled fuel could hit its ability to manufacture fuel and produce power, a filing showed. 1
The Energy Department said it awarded orders totaling $2.7 billion over 10 years to American Centrifuge Operating, General Matter and Orano Federal Services, with the contracts tied to milestones for enrichment services. It also awarded $28 million to Global Laser Enrichment, part-owned by Canadian uranium producer Cameco, to further its work on enrichment technology, the Reuters report said.
Nuclear-linked stocks broadly advanced alongside Oklo. NuScale Power gained about 15% and Nano Nuclear Energy rose about 12%, while the Global X Uranium ETF added roughly 5.6%.
Some analysts cautioned the initial award size fell short of earlier expectations. Evercore ISI analyst Nicholas Amicucci said the amount looked “slightly underwhelming relative to consensus expectations,” and flagged roughly $700 million in additional DOE awards for HALEU production that he said still appears unallocated, according to Investing.com. (Investing.com)
The fuel angle matters for Oklo because federal support can reduce one layer of execution risk for companies that still need to move from design and licensing milestones to construction and delivery. The Energy Department noted Russia is currently the only country producing HALEU in commercial volumes, and U.S. funding to build domestic supply was included in a law that bans Russian uranium shipments fully by 2028.
But the enrichment build-out will take time and depends on contractors meeting milestones, and critics of HALEU argue it poses proliferation risk if it falls into the wrong hands. For Oklo, investors also face the familiar downside scenario for early-stage nuclear developers: setbacks in licensing, fuel availability or project financing can quickly reset timelines and valuations.
Next up, traders will watch for details and timing around DOE task orders and any additional HALEU awards — and for a broader risk check on Friday, when the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the December employment report at 8:30 a.m. ET. 2
