Oklo stock had a strong session on Thursday, climbing 11.9% to close around $72.70. The stock touched a high of $72.84 during the day, with over 14.5 million shares traded — about 26% above its average daily volume. The previous close was $64.98.
The jump came despite a mixed picture for the nuclear startup. Oklo reported Q1 earnings per share of -$0.27, missing Wall Street’s estimate of -$0.17. Analysts currently expect a full-year loss of $0.75 per share.
Oklo has no revenue, no operating reactors, and no commercial license to sell power. It only went public in May 2024, and it’s still working with the U.S. Department of Energy to build its first reactor at Idaho National Laboratory.
So what’s the draw? Oklo sits at the crossroads of two themes markets have been paying attention to: surging electricity demand from AI data centers and renewed interest in nuclear energy.
The company builds small fast-fission reactors — compact, factory-built units that can run on both fresh and recycled nuclear fuel. It has signed partnerships with Equinix and Meta Platforms, and has backing from OpenAI’s Sam Altman.
Oklo claims a backlog of potential projects totalling around 14 gigawatts. At the electricity prices outlined in its 2024 investor presentation — between $40 and $90 per megawatt-hour — that pipeline could generate between $5 billion and $11 billion in annual revenue. On paper.
Reaching 14 GW is a much bigger task than it sounds. Using Oklo’s largest 75-megawatt Aurora reactor, the company would need to build roughly 187 units to hit that number. It currently has zero operational.
One analyst at BloombergNEF estimated it would cost $350 million to $400 million to build a single 75 MW unit. For Meta’s planned 1.2 GW campus in Ohio, that means 16 reactors and a bill somewhere between $5.6 billion and $6.4 billion — with a payback period of six to seven years at $90 per MWh.
The company’s market cap sits at around $12.64 billion. Its 50-day moving average is $59.61, while the 200-day average is $84.70.
Analyst sentiment is mixed. Canaccord Genuity cut its price target from $175 to $125 but kept a Buy. Barclays lowered its target from $146 to $82 with an Overweight rating. UBS dropped its target from $95 to $60 and rated the stock Neutral. Weiss Ratings downgraded Oklo to a Sell.
The current consensus is Moderate Buy, with an average price target of $87.68.
On the insider side, CEO Jacob DeWitte sold 60,000 shares at $50.25 on April 1st, pulling in $3 million. Insiders collectively have sold 818,766 shares worth about $50.9 million over the last 90 days. They still own roughly 18.9% of the company.
Institutional investors hold 85% of the stock. Several funds have recently increased positions, including GAMMA Investing, which grew its stake by 356%.
The stock’s 52-week range is $24.53 to $193.84, reflecting just how volatile this name has been.
The post Oklo Stock: What Investors Should Know After Thursday’s 12% Move appeared first on CoinCentral.
