NEW YORK, January 9, 2026, 16:30 EST — After-hours
- Meta shares were up about 1% in late trading after it outlined nuclear power agreements linked to its AI buildout
- The company said the deals could back as much as 6.6 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2035
- Investors are now keeping an eye on project timelines, permitting and Meta’s next earnings update
Meta Platforms, Inc. shares rose 1.1% to $653.06 in after-hours trading on Friday after the Facebook owner unveiled a slate of nuclear power agreements meant to supply its power-hungry AI data centers. Meta said deals with Vistra, Oklo and TerraPower could back as much as 6.6 gigawatts of new and existing nuclear capacity by 2035. (About Facebook)
The effort comes as power supply is becoming a choke point for data center growth, particularly in areas where generation is already scarce. It also follows Meta’s December request for proposals for new nuclear development and extends its earlier nuclear deal with Constellation Energy, with the power aimed at PJM — the regional grid operator covering much of the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest. (Utility Dive)
Meta linked the plan to Prometheus, an AI data center project in New Albany, Ohio, that it has described as a 1-gigawatt cluster spanning multiple buildings and slated to come online in 2026. Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed. (AP News)
Vistra said it has signed 20-year power purchase agreements — long-term contracts to buy electricity — covering more than 2,600 megawatts of nuclear power supply, including 433 MW from output boosts known as uprates. “This is a unique and exciting collaboration,” Vistra CEO Jim Burke said. Meta’s head of global energy Urvi Parekh said Meta is putting money behind the deal because nuclear delivers “clean, reliable power” for its AI ambitions. (PR Newswire)
Vistra said in a filing that deliveries under the agreements start in late 2026 and ramp to full operating output by the end of 2027, while uprate capacity is slated to come online in phases through 2034. The company also expects capital spending to begin in 2026 to support the uprates, with less than 20% of the total outlay projected by the end of 2028. (SEC)
Oklo said the Meta agreement lays out a structure for Meta to prepay for power and help bankroll early work on a 1.2-gigawatt campus spanning 206 acres in Pike County, Ohio. Site work is expected to start in 2026, with first power targeted as early as 2030. “Two years ago, Oklo shared its vision to build a new generation of advanced reactors in Ohio. Today, that vision is becoming a reality,” co-founder and CEO Jacob DeWitte said. (Oklo)
TerraPower said it has an agreement with Meta to develop as many as eight Natrium reactors, delivering up to 2.8 GW of carbon-free baseload — steady, around-the-clock — power and as much as 4 GW when combined with built-in storage. “To successfully address growing energy demand, we must deploy gigawatts of advanced nuclear energy in the 2030s,” TerraPower CEO Chris Levesque said. (PR Newswire)
Oklo shares were up about 8% in late trading. Vistra gained about 10%, and Constellation Energy rose about 6%. The takeaway was straightforward: AI infrastructure needs power contracts that run for decades, and nuclear is back in the conversation.
Meta’s near-term payoff is hard to pin down, with most of the new-build components still years away and exposed to regulatory hurdles and execution risk. Small modular reactors — smaller nuclear units designed for factory builds — still aren’t operating commercially in the United States and the projects will need permits, Reuters reported; backers say the designs can lower costs, while critics doubt they’ll ever scale the way large reactors do. (Reuters)
Meta investors are looking to the company’s next earnings update for signals on 2026 capital spending and the pace at which its AI push is driving power demand. Zacks expects Meta to report quarterly results on February 4. (Zacks)
