AI Consensus Investment Thesis
NuScale Power (SMR) Stock Forecast and AI Rating
Forecast targets and rating
Final recommendation
NEUTRAL
Calculated from the frozen synthesized path using the same return, horizon, volatility and dividend rules as individual opinions.
1-Year
PARTIAL SELL$7.67
-7.2%5-Year
NEUTRAL$9.62
+16.3%Latest flagship insight
Certified Nuclear Design Faces Severe Dilution Amid Extended Utility Commercialization Timelines
Sharp divergence characterizes the outlook as an exclusive regulatory design certification contrasts with severe revenue drought and relentless share dilution. Substantial liquidity buffers solvency through 2028, but converting non-binding utility memoranda into bankable procurement remains the decisive hurdle for sustainable per-share value realization.
This is the latest published deep-analysis batch. Audit published forecasts in full transparency
J.P. Morgan (Titan), Machiavelli (Insider), Ray Dalio (Strategist), Universal Investor (Polymath), Superintelligence (Anthropologist), Elon Musk (Visionary), Warren Buffett (Value Purist), Sherlock Holmes (Whistleblower), Michael Burry (Vulture). Some archetypes run in multiple modes, resulting in 14 advisors total.
Executive Summary
Dotted terms open concise definitions. Browse technical terms
If you invested $10,000 in NuScale Power at the forecast anchor (2026-09-18): $11,631 in five years versus $13,892 for S&P 500 benchmark.
20-quarter synthesized forecastPrice targets, quarterly returns and the reasoning behind each stepView tableClose table
Frozen forecast from 18 Sept 2026. Prices in USD; returns exclude dividends. Each quarter is compounded from the previous quarter.
Swipe the table horizontally to read every column.
| Quarter | Target (USD) | Quarter return | Total return | Forecast rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q4 2026 | 7.58 | -8.40% | -8.40% | Tax-loss selling and active at-the-market equity issuance weigh on trading sentiment. Negligible third-quarter commercial revenue reinforces post-FEED hiatus concerns, while substantial balance-sheet liquidity establishes an initial valuation floor against further immediate downside. |
| Q1 2027 | 7.43 | -1.91% | -10.16% | Full-year filings confirm operating losses exceeding several hundred million dollars alongside ongoing share dilution. European project review delays temper narrative enthusiasm, prompting cautious consolidation as investors scrutinize customer financing timelines. |
| Q2 2027 | 7.60 | +2.30% | -8.09% | Supportive federal policy announcements and exploratory utility site evaluations spark a modest relief bounce. Speculative short covering temporarily lifts shares, though management continues utilizing equity facilities into technical strength. |
| Q3 2027 | 7.67 | +0.94% | -7.23% | Prolonged contract negotiations and utility reluctance to absorb first-of-a-kind cost liabilities induce renewed multiple compression. Persistent operating cash burn outpaces incoming engineering receipts, reminding markets of extended commercialization lead times. |
| Q4 2027 | 7.85 | +2.35% | -5.05% | Advancement in pre-construction engineering tranches and preliminary site authorizations generate selective optimism. The market rewards incremental project derisking, though disclosure of partner milestone obligations caps follow-through equity appreciation. |
| Q1 2028 | 7.68 | -2.13% | -7.08% | Annual financial reporting underscores an expanded share count resulting from systematic dilution. While treasury interest cushions operating burn, the absence of enforceable module fabrication backlogs keeps institutional valuation multiples restrained. |
| Q2 2028 | 7.88 | +2.51% | -4.74% | Initial heavy component forging activities at partner manufacturing facilities validate physical supply-chain readiness. Visible progress from blueprints to industrial hardware attracts long-term infrastructure allocators, supporting steady upward price discovery. |
| Q3 2028 | 7.77 | -1.33% | -6.01% | Intensifying regional power grid deficits and surging datacenter compute demand renew speculative appetite for modular baseload. Exploratory enterprise agreements boost sector multiples, partially offset by ongoing corporate equity issuance. |
| Q4 2028 | 7.96 | +2.36% | -3.79% | Macroeconomic liquidity constraints and year-end utility capital expenditure reviews prompt orderly consolidation. Investors balance durable technological exclusivity against the reality that first module commercial operation remains several years away. |
| Q1 2029 | 7.96 | +0.10% | -3.70% | Recognition of initial long-lead materials revenue and engineering services billings modestly lifts top-line figures. Demonstrable progress toward site civil works in primary reference projects restores investor confidence in commercial feasibility. |
| Q2 2029 | 8.27 | +3.82% | -0.03% | Prospective customer utility procurement cycles encounter minor scheduling deferrals under higher-for-longer capital financing costs. The stock digests recent gains as analysts adjust forward revenue recognition timelines to reflect delivery realities. |
| Q3 2029 | 8.40 | +1.64% | +1.62% | Formal execution of a commercial co-development framework with a major industrial or technology consumer triggers aggressive institutional re-rating. Validating private corporate off-take demand compresses the perceived technology adoption discount. |
| Q4 2029 | 8.46 | +0.67% | +2.30% | Module manufacturing authorizations unlock high-margin technology licensing milestones. Incoming customer deposits begin cushioning working capital requirements, providing tangible evidence of the asset-light licensing model's operational leverage. |
| Q1 2030 | 8.61 | +1.73% | +4.07% | Fabrication milestones at partner facilities validate standard modular assembly protocols. The narrative pivots from speculative development survival toward valuing contractually supported intellectual property, sustaining a constructive fundamental valuation floor. |
| Q2 2030 | 8.89 | +3.25% | +7.46% | Final regulatory safety certifications for uprated module configurations remove lingering technical compliance hurdles. Broadening utility pipeline visibility across North America and Europe spurs sustained institutional equity accumulation. |
| Q3 2030 | 8.82 | -0.74% | +6.66% | Inflationary pressure on specialized nuclear-grade alloys and specialized installation logistics prompts mild guidance revisions. Investors navigate transitory cost escalation, supported by indexed contract structures and established supply agreements. |
| Q4 2030 | 9.16 | +3.88% | +10.80% | Delivery of non-nuclear module structural assemblies to testing facilities demonstrates manufacturing schedule reliability. Tangible execution proof points reduce forward risk premiums, propelling the stock higher into annual closing sessions. |
| Q1 2031 | 9.26 | +1.06% | +11.98% | Reported financial results confirm expanding revenue from engineering oversight, software licensing, and hardware progress. Drastically reduced net operational cash burn validates business model maturation, prompting sell-side target upgrades. |
| Q2 2031 | 9.40 | +1.52% | +13.68% | Expanding international bilateral energy security pacts unlock follow-on module options across Central European industrial parks. Expanding addressable backlog visibility underwrites persistent multi-quarter price appreciation on commercial repeatability. |
| Q3 2031 | 9.62 | +2.32% | +16.31% | On-site module integration and cold functional testing confirm small modular reactor commercial viability. The equity achieves mature valuation parity as a specialized nuclear licensor, reflecting durable cash flows across an enlarged share base. |
NuScale commands an unmatched strategic asset: the only small modular reactorsmall modular reactorsSmall modular reactors (SMRs) are smaller-scale nuclear reactors designed for modular manufacturing and flexible deployment.View full glossary entry design certified by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, providing an unreplicable regulatory head start. However, valuation models must distinguish between statutory design approval and commercial bankability. Following the completion of front-end engineering studies, quarterly revenue collapsed to negligible levels, leaving the enterprise with a trailing free cash flowfree cash flowFree cash flow (FCF) is cash generated after operating expenses and capital expenditures that remains available for debt reduction, reinvestment, or shareholder returns.View full glossary entry burn of $777 million. Survival relies entirely on aggressive equity issuance, which expanded Class A shares to 410.4 million. The core investment tension centers on capital structurecapital structureThe mix of debt and equity used to finance a business.View full glossary entry leakage: external commercialization partners capture direct project ownership and cash flows, while the company incurs significant milestone liabilities.
Key insights
- Regulatory certification provides essential option value, but customer conversion remains bottlenecked by $15,000 per kilowatt first-of-a-kind overnight capital hurdles.
- Relentless at-the-market equity dilutionequity dilutionThe reduction in ownership percentage for existing shareholders caused by the issuance of new shares.View full glossary entry structurally transfers wealth from existing common shareholders to operating overhead, capping multiple expansionmultiple expansionAn increase in valuation ratios such as price-to-earnings or enterprise-value-to-sales.View full glossary entry.
- Commercial off-take agreements trigger contractually mandated milestone payments to development partners, consuming treasury cash before module revenues materialize.
NuScale possesses a unique advantage as the only small modular nuclear reactor company with official approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This approval gives it a huge head start in powering future AI datacenters. However, the company currently generates almost no commercial revenue and burns hundreds of millions of dollars each year on overhead. To stay afloat, management continuously sells new shares of stock, which waters down current investors' ownership.
Key insights
- Regulatory approval proves the reactor design is safe, but utilities hesitate because initial plant construction costs remain high.
- Continuous sales of new shares create an ongoing supply overhang that limits per-share stock price gains.
- Complex partnership deals require paying large cash milestone fees to partners before receiving customer reactor payments.
Deep Dive
Prevailing market consensus treats NuScale as the premier pure-play proxy on the AI datacenter nuclear renaissance, assuming surging baseload demand guarantees multi-gigawatt utility orders. The crowd views non-binding memoranda as imminent contracted backlogbacklogThe total value of signed contracts yet to be fulfilled, representing future revenue visibility.View full glossary entry, treating the $1.9 billion liquidity cushion as an unassailable floor while overlooking that near-zero revenue and persistent ATM dilutiondilutionReduction in ownership percentage for existing shareholders caused by the issuance of new equity shares.View full glossary entry continuously erode per-share value.
Paywalled preview begins: Deep Dive: detailed analysis
From this section to the end-of-preview notice below, research is provided as simplified HTML text and tables. Full access provides the complete interactive interface, charts and additional datasets.
Deep Dive
Alpha Gap & Repricing Catalysts
Where does the current market narrative diverge from our AI Opinions—and what could close the gap?
Market Narrative
What does the market currently expect? Prevailing market consensus treats NuScale as the premier pure-play proxy on the AI datacenter nuclear renaissance, assuming surging baseload demand guarantees multi-gigawatt utility orders. The crowd views non-binding memoranda as imminent contracted backlogbacklogThe total value of signed contracts yet to be fulfilled, representing future revenue visibility.View full glossary entry, treating the $1.9 billion liquidity cushion as an unassailable floor while overlooking that near-zero revenue and persistent ATM dilutiondilutionReduction in ownership percentage for existing shareholders caused by the issuance of new equity shares.View full glossary entry continuously erode per-share value.
Alpha Gap
What is the biggest difference between market expectations and our AI forecasts? The crowd overestimates near-term commercial capture while underestimating capital structurecapital structureThe mix of debt and equity used to finance a business.View full glossary entry dilutiondilutionReduction in ownership percentage for existing shareholders caused by the issuance of new equity shares.View full glossary entry, creating distinct overpricing relative to operational reality. Investors mistake nuclear sentiment for corporate earnings, failing to recognize that Class A shares expanded to 410.4 million to fund a $777 million trailing cash bleed. Furthermore, customer relationships and plant ownership sit with external development partners, meaning commercial milestones trigger substantial cash outflows from the company before module licensing revenues materialize.
Repricing Catalyst
What could make the market recognize and close that gap? A definitive, binding commercial power purchase agreementpower purchase agreementsContracts under which a buyer agrees to purchase electricity from a producer under specified price, volume, and duration terms.View full glossary entry and engineering contract with the Tennessee Valley Authority or RoPower consortium represents the primary catalyst. Sometime across 2027 to 2028, disclosing executed contract terms will force the market to price observable module hardware margins and actual retained scope rather than uncommitted pipeline rhetoric, resolving narrative ambiguity.
Sentiment and Timing
What do sentiment, volatility, and the market-recognition cycle suggest about the thesis timing?
- Greed / Fear
- Fear
- Volatility
- High Erratic
- Cycle position
- Stabilization
While reports agree on elevated market volatility and pre-commercial revenue stagnation, they diverge sharply on positioning: bulls see technical stabilization around net cash, whereas bears identify a cyclical reversal where ongoing equity dilutionequity dilutionThe reduction in ownership percentage for existing shareholders caused by the issuance of new shares.View full glossary entry steadily degrades book valuebook valueThe net asset value of a company calculated as total assets minus total liabilities.View full glossary entry.
Macro Regime Fit
Does the current market environment support the thesis? The prevailing macro regimemacro regimeA persistent combination of growth, inflation, policy, and liquidity conditions affecting asset prices.View full glossary entry of restrictive monetary policy and benchmark ten-year Treasury yields near 5.0 percent is a severe headwind. Elevated capital costs raise the levelized cost of electricity for multi-billion-dollar first-of-a-kind nuclear projects, paralyzing utility procurement decisions and compressing the present value of long-duration 2030s cash flows.
Advisor Disagreement
What do our AI Advisors disagree about most? The decisive disagreement across reports centers on capital structurecapital structureThe mix of debt and equity used to finance a business.View full glossary entry dilutiondilutionReduction in ownership percentage for existing shareholders caused by the issuance of new equity shares.View full glossary entry and commercial conversion timing. Optimistic viewpoints model rapid execution of multi-gigawatt utility frameworks, arguing that $1.9 billion in cash reserves and regulatory design exclusivity justify expanding equity multiples. Conversely, skeptical analyses establish that Class A shares have diluted to 410.4 million, trailing free cash burncash burnThe rate at which a company consumes its cash reserves to fund operations before achieving profitability.View full glossary entry stands at negative $777 million, and contractual clauses require paying external partners before receiving reactor revenue. Resolving this tension requires observing whether initial commercial utility agreements include non-refundable customer prepayments that outpace ongoing at-the-market equity issuance.
Base-Case Forces
Event Risk ScoreVery High95/100Near-certain positive forces
Top Drivers / Tailwinds
Near-certain forces that support the investment thesis. These forces are treated as part of the base case (more than 60% probability of occurrence). Impact columns are specific to this asset class.
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| Driver / Tailwind | Category | Est. stock-price impact | Est. earnings impact | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NRC Design Approval Regulatory Moatregulatory moatA competitive advantage created when licenses, approvals, compliance expertise, or regulatory scale are difficult for new entrants to replicate.View full glossary entry | Regulatory | +35% | +45% | NuScale holds the sole Small Modular Reactorsmall modular reactorsSmall modular reactors (SMRs) are smaller-scale nuclear reactors designed for modular manufacturing and flexible deployment.View full glossary entry design certification approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, spanning 50 MWe and uprated 77 MWe configurations. This bureaucratic moat eliminates multi-year licensing uncertainty, establishing NuScale as the only near-term deployable SMR architecture in the United States and driving long-term licensing pricing powerpricing powerThe ability of a company to raise prices without losing significant customer demand.View full glossary entry. |
| Hyperscale AI Clean Baseload Mandate | Sector And Industry | +32% | +40% | Exploding compute power requirements for AI datacenters and transmission interconnect bottlenecks create inelastic demandinelastic demandDemand that changes proportionally less than price over a defined range and period.View full glossary entry for firm, 24/7 carbon-free power. Small modular reactorssmall modular reactorsSmall modular reactors (SMRs) are smaller-scale nuclear reactors designed for modular manufacturing and flexible deployment.View full glossary entry offer behind-the-meter generation that bypasses queue delays, incentivizing hyperscalershyperscalersVery large cloud or internet-platform operators that run computing infrastructure at global scale.View full glossary entry and utilities to evaluate NuScale's certified modular design for dedicated compute infrastructure. |
| Strategic Industrial Partner Manufacturing Readiness | Operational Efficiency | +24% | +25% | Alliances with Doosan Enerbility, Framatome, and established forging suppliers provide dedicated heavy industrial capacity for reactor pressure vessels and standard low-enriched uranium fuel assemblies. Relying on proven light-water physics mitigates specialized supply chain bottleneckssupply chain bottlenecksCapacity, material, labor, transport, or coordination constraints that slow the flow of goods and inputs.View full glossary entry, positioning the company to execute physical hardware deliveries faster than paper-concept reactor peers. |
| Balance Sheetbalance sheetA financial statement showing assets, liabilities, and equity at a specific point in time.View full glossary entry Cash Runway Buffer | Capital Allocation | +18% | +15% | Ending mid-2026 with $1.9 billion in cash and liquid investments against negligible funded debt provides over two years of operational runway. This liquidity cushion eliminates immediate solvency risk, insulates operations from debt refinancingdebt refinancingReplacing existing debt with new borrowing, often to change maturity, interest cost, currency, or covenants.View full glossary entry distress during high-rate regimes, and generates substantial risk-free treasury income to cushion research burn. |
Near-certain negative forces
Top Frictions / Headwinds
Near-certain forces that could slow, cap, or damage the thesis. These forces are treated as part of the base case (more than 60% probability of occurrence). Impact columns are specific to this asset class.
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| Friction / Headwind | Category | Est. stock-price impact | Est. earnings impact | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Relentless Shareholder ATM Equity Dilutionequity dilutionThe reduction in ownership percentage for existing shareholders caused by the issuance of new shares.View full glossary entry | Capital Allocation | -35% | -20% | Chronic operational cash burncash burnThe rate at which a company consumes its cash reserves to fund operations before achieving profitability.View full glossary entry, reflected in negative $777 million trailing free cash flowfree cash flowFree cash flow (FCF) is cash generated after operating expenses and capital expenditures that remains available for debt reduction, reinvestment, or shareholder returns.View full glossary entry, forces permanent reliance on at-the-market equity facilities. Raising $984.5 million in early 2026 expanded Class A shares to 410.4 million, with subsequent programs continuously depressing per-share intrinsic valueintrinsic valueThe estimated true worth of a business or asset based on fundamentals instead of short-term market mood.View full glossary entry and capping equity price appreciation. |
| Post-FEED Commercial Revenue Vacuum | Operational Efficiency | -30% | -35% | Concluding Romanian FEED Phase 2 engineering studies in late 2025 collapsed quarterly revenue to just $75,000 in mid-2026. Because nuclear equipment orders require finalized customer investment decisions, revenue will remain negligible through 2027, preserving heavy operating losses and depressing valuation multiples across the pre-commercial desert. |
| Prohibitive FOAK Capital Cost Inflation | Competitive Positioning | -26% | -30% | First-of-a-kind nuclear construction projects suffer acute capital cost inflation, exemplified by Doicesti estimates swelling to $6.5 billion and levelized electricity costs exceeding $100 per megawatt-hour. Prohibitive capital hurdle rates cause risk-averse public utilities to hesitate, stalling final investment decisions and prolonging sales gestation cycles. |
| Extractive Partner Milestone Contribution Liabilities | Management And Governance | -24% | -40% | The commercialization framework with ENTRA1 Energy creates severe cash asymmetries. Signing commercial memoranda triggered a $495 million expense in 2025 and substantial cash disbursements in 2026. Unaccrued milestone contingencies threaten further liquidity depletion upon project conversion, consuming treasury cash before module revenues arrive. |
What Could Break or Accelerate the Thesis
Plausible downside scenarios
Tail Risks
Tail yet plausible downside scenarios selected for their highest potential impact.
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| Tail scenario | Chance of Occurring | Stock Price Impact | Why plausible / what changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| RoPower Romanian Project Formal Cancellation | 34% | -50% | Romanian authorities or Nuclearelectrica formally terminate the Doicesti SMR project following audit-driven cost escalations and political controversy by early 2028. Losing its flagship international commercial reference plant would eliminate projected licensing revenues, mirror the 2023 Utah project collapse, and trigger severe institutional equity capitulation. |
| Unfunded Milestone Call Liquidity Crunch | 28% | -60% | Binding commercial offtake triggers substantial mandatory milestone contributions to ENTRA1 before matching customer prepayments arrive, while adverse equity market conditions freeze ATM issuance. This contractual cash mismatch depletes liquid reserves, forcing punitive emergency recapitalization at distressed valuations that permanently impairs common equity holders. |
Plausible upside scenarios
Tail Opportunities
Tail yet plausible upside scenarios selected for their highest potential impact.
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| Tail scenario | Chance of Occurring | Stock Price Impact | Why plausible / what changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binding TVA Commercial Deployment Contract | 32% | +75% | Tennessee Valley Authority and ENTRA1 transition their 6-gigawatt exploratory memorandum into an enforceable, federally backstopped engineering and procurement contract for an initial multi-module plant by late 2027. This breakthrough would unlock hundreds of millions in licensing fees, validating commercial bankability and eliminating pre-revenue skepticism across institutional markets. |
| Hyperscaler Direct Behind-the-Meter Consortium | 26% | +80% | A tier-one technology hyperscaler executes a binding power purchase agreementpower purchase agreementsContracts under which a buyer agrees to purchase electricity from a producer under specified price, volume, and duration terms.View full glossary entry and provides upfront capital expenditurecapital expenditureCapital expenditure (CAPEX) is spending on long-lived assets or major improvements expected to support operations over multiple periods.View full glossary entry financing by 2028 to construct a dedicated VOYGR multi-pack campus for AI compute. Private balance-sheet backing bypasses utility rate cases, accelerates deployment timelines, and triggers massive equity valuation multiple expansionvaluation multiple expansionAn increase in valuation ratios such as P/E or EV/EBITDA, often driven by stronger growth or lower perceived risk.View full glossary entry. |
Company Financial Analysis
NuScale Power Earnings and Financials Analysis by AI
Financial figures available as of Sep 20, 2026. Only filings and source records available by this analysis date are included.
Earnings and financials
AI Review
NuScale's financial results reflect a business in a severe pre-commercial revenue lull. In the second quarter of 2026, revenue dropped to just $75,000, plunging 99 percent from $8.05 million a year earlier. This drop occurred because the company completed front-end engineering studies for Romania's RoPower project in late 2025, leaving a temporary void before follow-on contracts begin. Operating performance remains deeply negative, with trailing twelve-month losses reaching $733 million and free cash flow burn of negative $777 million. These results confirm NuScale operates as an engineering research firm rather than an active equipment seller. Financial stability currently depends on treasury interest income and external capital rather than customer sales.
Revenue, earnings, and cash flow
The table compares up to five fiscal years of revenue, net income, and free cash flow available to this analysis.
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | USD 31.5M | USD -355.8M | USD -460.1M |
| 2024 | USD 37M | USD -136.6M | USD -108.7M |
| 2023 | USD 22.8M | USD -58.4M | USD -185M |
| 2022 | USD 11.8M | USD -57.1M | USD -150.9M |
| 2021 | USD 2.9M | USD -102.5M | USD -101.1M |
Valuation context: historical P/E
The table compares up to five fiscal years of point-in-time valuation evidence available to this analysis.
| Fiscal year | P/E | Earnings basis | Currency basis | Ticker / reporting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | -- | TTM | Loss-making | USD / USD |
| 2024 | -- | TTM | Loss-making | USD / USD |
| 2023 | -- | TTM | Loss-making | USD / USD |
| 2022 | -- | Annual | Loss-making | USD / USD |
| 2021 | -- | Annual | Loss-making | USD / USD |
P/E uses historical market capitalization and earnings known at each period. Cross-currency observations are normalized to USD using point-in-time FX rates.
Profitability and margins
AI Review
Profitability margins remain deeply distorted due to the lack of steady revenue. While annual gross margin reached 36.3 percent in 2025 during active engineering work, operating and net margins sat far below negative three hundred percent as fixed corporate payroll and compliance expenses overwhelmed nominal receipts. This extreme margin divergence illustrates that operating leverage currently works in reverse. High fixed engineering expenses create massive losses when contract activity slows. Sustainable profitability cannot emerge until modular reactors enter repetitive commercial factory production, where high-margin technology licensing royalties and maintenance fees can finally outpace corporate overhead costs.
The table compares up to five fiscal years of operating income and reported profitability margins.
| Fiscal year | Operating income | Operating margin | Net margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | USD -689.6M | -2190.6% | -1130.3% |
| 2024 | USD -138.7M | -374.5% | -368.8% |
| 2023 | USD -275.6M | -1208.1% | -255.9% |
| 2022 | USD -230M | -1948.4% | -483.5% |
| 2021 | USD -174.3M | -6090.1% | -3581.2% |
Balance sheet and leverage
AI Review
NuScale ended the second quarter of 2026 with $1.9 billion in cash and liquid investments against negligible long-term debt of under $7 million. This provides a strong short-term current ratio of 4.30, eliminating near-term bankruptcy risk and giving management more than two years of operational runway. However, this cash fortress was not earned from operating profits. It was built almost entirely by selling new stock to the public, including $984.5 million raised in early 2026. With negative trailing free cash flow and a new $750 million share-sale program, the balance sheet survives by continuously diluting existing shareholders' ownership.
The table compares up to five fiscal years of debt, liquidity, net cash or debt, and current-ratio evidence.
| Fiscal year | Total debt | Cash + short-term investments | Net cash / (debt) | Current ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | USD -836.4M | USD 1.3B | USD 836.4M net cash | 4.30x |
| 2024 | USD -401.6M | USD 441.6M | USD 401.6M net cash | 5.25x |
| 2023 | USD 2.9M | USD 120.3M | USD 117.3M net cash | 1.77x |
| 2022 | USD 4.4M | USD 267.7M | USD 213.3M net cash | 7.38x |
| 2021 | USD 15.4M | USD 77.1M | USD 61.7M net cash | 1.78x |
Net debt below zero is displayed as net cash. Current ratio is current assets divided by current liabilities.
Capex and investment intensity
AI Review
Management operates an asset-light business model that commits minimal direct money to property and factory construction, with 2025 capital expenditures representing just 1.61 percent of revenue. Instead of building multi-billion-dollar manufacturing plants internally, NuScale relies on industrial partners like Doosan Enerbility to handle heavy reactor forging. True corporate investment flows through operating expenses, specifically research, regulatory design certification, and supply-chain readiness. However, commercialization requires significant spending: NuScale paid $259.9 million to its commercial partner ENTRA1 in early 2026. This setup shields the balance sheet from factory construction liabilities but creates substantial upfront contractual obligations.
The table compares up to five fiscal years of capital expenditure and research-and-development investment.
| Fiscal year | Capital expenditure | R&D spend |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | USD 508K | USD 45.5M |
| 2024 | USD 44K | USD 46.8M |
| 2023 | USD 1.7M | USD 156.1M |
| 2022 | USD 2.3M | USD 127.7M |
| 2021 | USD 2M | USD 94.4M |
Quarterly Forecast Scenarios
NuScale Power Averaged Consensus Scenarios
One row per forecast quarter. Asset scenario targets are shown in USD; benchmark values are shown in USD.
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| Quarter | Bear case (USD) | Base case (USD) | Bull case (USD) | S&P 500 benchmark (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $7.0295 | $7.7974 | $8.7662 | $750.26 | |
| $6.0454 | $7.6643 | $9.4675 | $736.44 | |
| $6.529 | $8.0499 | $10.60 | $743.40 | |
| $5.7455 | $8.243 | $13.57 | $755.15 | |
| $5.6824 | $8.6607 | $15.61 | $776.22 | |
| $4.8868 | $8.5978 | $14.83 | $787.13 | |
| $5.3755 | $8.9411 | $16.31 | $802.83 | |
| $4.5692 | $9.2222 | $19.25 | $812.05 | |
| $4.0666 | $9.3315 | $18.48 | $839.18 | |
| $3.7413 | $9.616 | $20.69 | $850.50 | |
| $4.1902 | $10.23 | $23.59 | $872.39 | |
| $3.5198 | $10.68 | $25.48 | $885.51 | |
| $3.203 | $11.06 | $27.01 | $909.56 | |
| $2.9788 | $11.44 | $31.06 | $916.13 | |
| $3.2171 | $12.15 | $34.16 | $936.51 | |
| $2.831 | $12.14 | $32.11 | $947.34 | |
| $2.5479 | $12.95 | $37.25 | $969.59 | |
| $2.3951 | $13.43 | $41.72 | $979.99 | |
| $2.5627 | $14.06 | $45.06 | $999.60 | |
| $2.2808 | $14.80 | $49.57 | $1,012 |
Behind the synthesis
How each opinion shapes the consensus
The synthesized evidence reveals a pronounced divergence between statutory regulatory exclusivity and commercial cash-generation reality. Across the submitted reports, an independently corroborated common pattern confirms that while the certified reactor design represents an unreplicable intellectual property moat, commercial monetization is paralyzed by a post-FEED revenue vacuum and lack of binding purchase agreements. Crucially, forensic share count verification establishes that Class A shares have expanded to 410.4 million, refuting obsolete datasets that understate enterprise capitalization. The strongest credible contrarian insight demonstrates that commercial success actually triggers substantial cash outflows to external development partners before customer revenues materialize. Conversely, ungrounded assumptions predicting rapid multi-gigawatt conversion ignore utility capital-expenditure latency and elevated discount rates. Relative weights prioritize rigorous capital-structure accounting, partner milestone mechanics, and dilution drag over uncritical narrative extrapolation.
Universal Investor AI
The Polymath
Delivers the deepest primary evidence on capital structure and governance friction. It establishes that Class A shares reached 410.4 million, documents substantial cash payments to commercialization partners, and models per-share leakage beneath headline nuclear narratives.
Universal Investor AI
The Polymath
Provides exemplary analytical discipline, reconciling the true economic share count of 410.4 million, partner milestone obligations, and unaccrued contingencies. It rigorously demonstrates that regulatory design approval creates an option rather than guaranteed commercial earnings.
Niccolo Machiavelli AI
The Insider
Identifies critical governance and incentive dynamics, notably sponsor equity divestment and milestone payments to intermediaries. It persuasively reconciles sovereign policy support with public shareholder dilution, capturing an institutional reality overlooked by purely thematic analyses.
Sherlock Holmes AI
The Whistleblower
Offers a balanced assessment of pre-revenue stagnation against the net cash floor. It correctly identifies $15,000 per kilowatt capital cost hurdles and project gestation latency, grounding an unhurried, range-bound five-year valuation projection.
Michael Burry AI
The Vulture
Highlights acute cash burn, relentless at-the-market share dumping, and commercial conversion stagnation following historical project cancellations. It accurately captures the structural cap that persistent dilution places on per-share equity recovery.
Universal Investor AI
The Polymath
Provides a rigorous forensic breakdown of the negative $777 million trailing free cash flow burn and the extreme price-to-sales multiple. It thoughtfully models initial module fabrication while factoring in ongoing equity dilution and high hurdle rates.
Warren Buffett AI
The Value Seeker
Constructs a measured base case balancing the debt-free balance sheet against prolonged utility procurement cycles. It provides sensible milestones for module fabrication while maintaining a realistic view of equity dilution headwinds.
Elon Musk AI
The Visionary
Focuses on engineering valley-of-death mechanics and unit cost diseconomies of scale. While insightful regarding reactor capital cost inflation, its severe downside path slightly discounts the downside protection provided by liquid treasury reserves.
Warren Buffett AI
The Value Seeker
Applies an owner-earnings framework to demonstrate how capital reinvestment yields zero commercial return without customer deposits. It provides sound warnings on per-share destruction, though its deep multiple-compression trajectory somewhat overstates immediate insolvency risk.
Ray Dalio AI
The Strategist
This report emphasizes asset-light licensing leverage and the $1.9 billion liquidity cushion. However, it understates dilution drag and downplays persistent contractual delays by modeling rapid uninterrupted commercial margin expansion, warranting a modest tactical weighting.
Superintelligence AI
The Anthropologist
Articulates the thermodynamic baseload mandate driving hyperscale computing demand and details the supply chain with qualified partners. However, it remains overly optimistic regarding conversion velocity, downplaying customer balance-sheet hesitations.
J.P. Morgan AI
The Titan
Presents an aggressive upside scenario centered on sovereign baseload monopolies and immediate project conversion. It heavily discounts cash-burn realities, regulatory latency, and share dilution, requiring a minimal weighting to prevent ungrounded optimism.
Superintelligence AI
The Anthropologist
Correctly diagnoses the pre-revenue cash furnace and extreme valuation multiples. However, its severe projected equity collapse discounts the multi-year liquidity runway provided by the company's cash hoard and risk-free interest yields.
Universal Investor AI
The Polymath
Disregards verified share count data by anchoring to outdated capitalization figures and assumes rapid, frictionless transition to multi-gigawatt utility contracts. Its refusal to model persistent dilution undermines internal causal consistency, justifying exclusion.
Research Provenance
References & Context
This NuScale Power consensus analysis combines structured market evidence with independent AI-agent forecasts. External references below are limited to sources recorded by the researcher agents for this forecast batch.
Primary analysis inputs
- iPulse AI Multi-Agent Forecasts — independent analyst personas, model outputs, and consensus synthesis.
- iPulse AI Global Events Context — macroeconomic, geopolitical, regulatory, and industry-event context.
- Structured market history — prices, distributions, volatility, identifiers, and listing metadata.
- Company earnings and financial statements — revenue, profitability, balance-sheet, cash-flow, and investment trends.
- Researcher web evidence — public sources consulted to challenge and contextualize the forecast thesis.
Independent AI Advisor panel
- AI Advisors
- 14
- AI Researchers
- 11
- AI Thinkers
- 3
Sources retained from AI Researcher searches
Asset-specific · Researcher webShowing the top 15 of 99 deduplicated sources retained for this batch.
- 01smr-20260630sec.gov
- 02NRC NEWS Office of Public Affairs, Headquartersnrc.gov
- 03NUSCALE POWER Corp - Form 10-Q - FY2026sec.gov
- 04NUSCALE POWER Corp - Form 8-K - FY2026sec.gov
- 05smr-20250930sec.gov
- 06smr-20251231sec.gov
- 07NuScale Power Reports Second Quarter 2026 Resultsnuscalepower.com
- 08TVA and Entra1 to deploy 6 GW of NuScale SMRs -- ANS / Nuclear Newswireans.org
- 09NuScale Power Reports Second Quarter 2026 Resultsbarchart.com
- 10SMR Stock Quote Price and Forecast | CNNcnn.com
- 11NuScale Power Is Closing In on a Deal That Could Transform the Small Modular Reactor Industry | The Motley Foolfool.com
- 12NuScale Wouldn't Own a Reactor in the Deal Driving Its Stock | The Motley Foolfool.com
- 13NuScale Power Corporation (SMR) Class Action Lawsuit: Investors Face March 13, 2026, Deadline | Morningstarmorningstar.com
- 14SMR Shareholder Alert: NuScale Power Corporation Securities Class Action Lawsuit Investors With Losses May Join — The Gross Law Firm | Morningstarmorningstar.com
- 15Clarifications regarding the development of the Doicesti Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Project – SNNnuclearelectrica.ro
And 84 more sources were used and retained in the batch inventory.
Context retained with this Consensus
The same public-safe market, global-event, and fundamental context supplied to the AI Advisor panel.
Global context snapshot
2025 Full-Year Global Market and World-Events Context
Download Archived SnapshotCoverage 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 · Knowledge cutoff 2025-12-31
This full-year context package covers the principal geopolitical, economic, monetary-policy, technology, trade, energy, and institutional developments that shaped global markets during 2025. It gives the forecasting model a chronological account of major world events together with their likely transmission into growth, inflation, interest rates, supply chains, commodities, currencies, public markets, and sector-level investment conditions.
The package also includes monthly and quarterly macroeconomic and cross-asset reference tables spanning US and international growth, central-bank policy, sovereign yields, major equity indices, foreign exchange, energy, industrial and precious metals, and digital assets. Quarterly and full-year high-impact summaries are integrated; monthly quantitative series remain working values pending final audit, and that qualification is part of the preserved context.
| Top 3 Market Shifts From File | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| DeepSeek shock and AI economics reset | 2025-01-27 | OPEN ENDED TREND |
| US tariff regime escalation and trade-system rupture | 2025-02-01 | ACTIVE POLICY REGIME |
| Federal Reserve easing cycle after a prolonged hold | 2025-09-17 | ACTIVE POLICY REGIME |
Representative Sources of the Context File
And more sources from the retained context package.
2026 Year-to-Date Global Market and World-Events Context Through September 20
Download Archived SnapshotCoverage 2026-01-01 to 2026-09-20 · Knowledge cutoff 2026-09-20
January 1-September 20, 2026: monetary tightening, energy security, trade restrictions, AI financing and divergent growth; five leading market themes.
Fed raised rates to 3.75%-4.00%; ECB hike is in force and BOJ increase starts September 24. Markets through September 18, bitcoin through September 19.
| Top 3 Market Shifts From File | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Renewed monetary tightening amid persistent inflation | 2026-01-30 | ACTIVE POLICY REGIME |
| Iran/Hormuz conflict and wider energy-security disruption | 2026-02-28 | ONGOING |
| Tariff legal reset and strategic supply restrictions | 2026-02-20 | ACTIVE POLICY REGIME |
Representative Sources of the Context File
And more sources from the retained context package.
Fundamental context
Income statement
9 fieldsdepreciationAndAmortization · ebit · ebitda · grossProfit · +5 more fields
Balance sheet
11 fieldscash · commonStockSharesOutstanding · netDebt · netReceivables · +7 more fields
Cash flow
5 fieldscapitalExpenditures · dividendsPaid · freeCashFlow · salePurchaseOfStock · +1 more field
annual: 2014-12-31–2025-12-31, 8 periods; quarterly: 2023-09-30–2026-06-30, 12 periods
Currencies cited: USD (quote USD; primary reporting USD; converted/valuation USD).
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