Nuclear energy wasn’t what you’d call a red-hot industry, until recently.
A 2025 report from Goldman Sachs, “Is Nuclear Energy the Answer to AI Data Centers’ Power Consumption?” found that power demand from data centers is set to increase more than 160% by 2030 compared to 2023 levels.
“Nuclear power will be a key part of a suite of new energy infrastructure built to meet surging data center power demand driven by artificial intelligence,” Goldman Sachs analysts wrote.
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In mid-2025, the biggest nuclear energy exchange-traded funds, including the Global X Uranium ETF (URA) and the VanEck Uranium and Nuclear ETF (NLR), began significant uptrends as investors began taking note of the technology’s enormous potential.
Catalysts Driving Growth of Nuclear Power
“We believe the industry historically trades on a combination of uranium supply and demand fundamentals, and factors that could influence the growth of nuclear power across both incumbent and new markets,” says Kenny Zhu, a chartered financial analyst who’s assistant vice president of energy and commodities research at fund manager Global X. The company runs the URA ETF.
“Both factors experienced significant catalysts over the past few years which, we believe, justify a structurally higher valuation for both uranium miners and the nuclear utilities that operate our power grids,” he adds.
Here’s a look at two nuclear energy ETFs and three large-cap nuclear energy stocks to buy:
— Global X Uranium ETF (URA)
— VanEck Uranium and Nuclear ETF (NLR)
— Constellation Energy Corp. (CEG)
— Vistra Corp. (VST)
— Cameco Corp. (CCJ)
Global X Uranium ETF (URA)
This 49-stock ETF tracks an index of companies active in uranium mining, exploration and technologies.
Top holdings are Cameco Corp. (CCJ), Oklo Inc. (OKLO) and the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust (OTC: SRUUF). The ETF offers international exposure, with Canada and the U.S. accounting for more than 67% of holdings.
This ETF has a beta of 1.21, meaning it tends to move about 21% more than the broader market, rising faster in rallies but falling harder in sell-offs.
“Due to its miner-heavy exposure, URA tends to have a higher beta to uranium price movements and therefore can be more sensitive to commodity cycles,” says Thomas Drury, co-founder and director of U.K.-based investment comparison site The Investors Centre.
Drury notes that this ETF can be volatile. “Miner-heavy exposure tends to behave more like cyclical equities than a stable infrastructure theme,” he says. “Therefore, it may be more suitable for tactical allocations than conservative portfolios.”
VanEck Uranium and Nuclear ETF (NLR)
This ETF offers exposure to utilities, service providers and uranium miners. Its expense ratio of 0.56% is less than URA’s fee of 0.69%. It’s underperformed URA in the past year.
The beta of this ETF, 1.14, is also higher than the broader market.
“NLR is structured to include uranium producers, nuclear utilities and various components of the nuclear value chain,” Drury says. “This type of structure can help to reduce volatility compared to pure mining exposure and reflect the entire nuclear ecosystem more broadly.”
Top holdings are Cameco, Denison Mines Corp. (DNN) and BWX Technologies Inc. (BWXT).
Drury says NLR offers balanced exposure to the nuclear energy industry and is less dependent on uranium price spikes than other uranium-related investments.
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Constellation Energy Corp. (CEG)
This Baltimore-based S&P 500 component has a market capitalization of $107.5 billion. The stock has been in a correction since October, with investors fretting about regulators’ proposed caps on electricity rates in the mid-Atlantic region, where Constellation operates.
Revenue growth has been decelerating in recent quarters, but analysts expect a pickup to double-digit increases later this year.
Constellation is slated to release fourth-quarter 2025 results on Feb. 24. Analysts expect earnings of $2.26 a share, a 7% year-over-year decrease, on flat revenue.
“Constellation Energy is basically a bet on existing nuclear capacity in the U.S.,” says Nidhi Singhvi, co-founder and CEO of San Francisco-based Unvault, a financial platform for personal gold. She also manages equity portfolios for individual investors.
“What has changed recently is power demand. I mean data centers, electrification, all of that,” she adds.
“Stable nuclear output is beginning to be valued more seriously by the market. But this trades similarly to a power producer, so the stock is affected if power prices decline,” Singhvi says.
Vistra Corp. (VST)
Like Constellation, Vistra is an independent power producer with growing exposure to nuclear energy. In 2024, the Irving, Texas, company completed the acquisition of Energy Harbor, which added about 4,000 megawatts of round-the-clock nuclear generation and approximately 1 million retail customers.
Vistra reports fourth-quarter results on Feb. 26, with analysts eyeing quarterly earnings of $2.51 per share, up 120.2% year over year, according to Zacks Equity Research. Wall Street expects revenue to rise by 32.3% from the prior-year period. For the full year, analysts see a 77% increase in earnings, to $8.82 per share.
The company’s earnings can move sharply as power prices fluctuate. Sentiment about AI and political and regulatory risk can also affect the stock, making it more volatile than a typical utility.
“While long-term contracts provide a high degree of stability for the company, power markets are inherently cyclical,” Drury says. “Therefore, earnings can still vary with changes in the wholesale electricity market and new regulatory developments.”
Cameco Corp. (CCJ)
Cameco, based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, is one of the world’s largest publicly traded uranium companies. It is a major supplier for the nuclear power industry, producing, refining and converting uranium for clean-electricity generation.
Cameco also holds a 49% stake in nuclear energy producer Westinghouse Electric Co. The acquisition, closed in 2023, allows Cameco to move beyond uranium mining and into reactor technology and services, not just the fuel that powers them.
With a market capitalization of about $52 billion, Cameco gets extensive analyst coverage. Wall Street’s consensus view is a “moderate buy,” with a 12-to-18-month price target of $143.03, an upside of about 18% as of Feb. 20.
Buyers need to understand that the stock inherently comes with the ups and downs of the commodities market, Singhvi says.
“As a direct result of its connection to uranium, the stock often rises in parallel with uranium prices,” she adds. “When prices fall, it drops too. It can move fast in both directions.”
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5 Best Nuclear Energy Stocks and ETFs to Buy for 2026 originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 02/23/26: This story was previously published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.