Uranium stocks are glowing green on Friday, and they have Constellation Energy to thank for it. This morning, the electric utility giant announced plans to restart Unit 1 at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant by 2028, in order to supply power to Microsoft data centers.
In no time flat, shares of uranium mining stocks such as Energy Fuels, Uranium Energy, and Denison Mines began powering up. None went so far as Cameco Corporation (NYSE: CCJ), however, which as of 11:10 a.m. ET is gaining 8%.
Why Cameco stock is glowing green today
It's no great mystery why. A big electric utility is restarting a nuclear plant, and that plant will need uranium to generate power. Uranium miners provide that uranium -- and so their stocks rise.
But this story is even bigger than Three Mile Island, because where Constellation leads, other power plant operators may follow. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, there are currently 54 nuclear power plants operating in the U.S., running 94 reactors. Additionally, EIA says 22 reactors are "in various stages of decommissioning," and could theoretically be reactivated.
Although only one new reactor is under construction in the U.S., multiple small nuclear power start-ups, with names like NuScale Power Corporation and Nano Nuclear Energy, are working to get approval for new, smaller-scale nuclear power plant designs.
Is Cameco stock a buy?
All of which is to say, there's potential for quite a bit of growth in nuclear power in the United States, and for growth in demand for uranium fuel. As the only U.S.-listed uranium miner that's currently both profitable and free-cash-flow-positive (according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence), Cameco stock is a logical beneficiary of this trend -- if it does turn into a trend.
That doesn't make Cameco stock a buy necessarily, however. Valued at 46 times free cash flow and 94 times trailing earnings, and paying only a 0.2% dividend, Cameco may be the best bargain in uranium mining today.
But it's still too expensive to buy.
Should you invest $1,000 in Cameco right now?
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Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Constellation Energy and Microsoft. The Motley Fool recommends Cameco and NuScale Power and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Why Cameco Stock Popped 8% on Friday was originally published by The Motley Fool