Cathie Wood's ARK Bought $15M Of XE Stock In A Week: 5 Things Investors Should Know About The Mid-Cap Nuclear Energy Play

• XE stock is down about 43% since its April debut and has lost about 54% from its peak of $37.10.
• Revenue remains heavily concentrated in government-backed sources, constituting about 82% of total revenue and grant income. 
• As of March 31, X-Energy's development pipeline included 144 reactors across the U.S. and U.K., representing approximately 11.5 gigawatts of potential generating capacity.

Cathie Wood is leaning further into one of her newest nuclear energy bets.

ARK Investment Management bought roughly $15.2 million worth of X-Energy Inc. (XE) shares across eight ETF purchases since July 1, even as the stock trades more than 50% below its post-IPO high.

XE stock has also garnered significant retail attention on Stocktwits, with message volume up 466% in 24 hours, according to platform data, and sentiment improving from ‘extremely bearish’ to ‘bearish’ over the same period, suggesting investors are increasingly watching the recent pullback.

Here are five key points investors should know about X-Energy as Cathie Wood continues to build her position in the company.

XE Stock Has Lost More Than Half Its Value Since Going Public

X-Energy debuted on the Nasdaq on April 24 this year, raising about $1.02 billion in an upsized IPO. The Amazon-backed nuclear developer priced its shares at $23 each, but the stock opened 31% higher at $30.11.

Since then, the company’s shares have declined significantly. The stock is down about 43% since its debut and has lost about 54% of its value from its peak of $37.10 that it clocked in its first week of trading.

In fact, on Tuesday, the company’s shares dropped to its lowest level since it began trading publicly.

Revenue Still Depends Heavily On Government Funding

The company’s business is built around two key technologies: the Xe-100 small modular reactor (SMR), and TRISO-X advanced nuclear fuel. Rather than owning and operating nuclear power plants, the company plans to generate revenue through reactor technology licensing, engineering and project services, and recurring fuel sales.

A significant portion of the company's income is tied to the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP), under which the DOE reimburses roughly half of eligible project costs.

“The Department of Energy has called TRISO fuel the most robust nuclear fuel on Earth. Our integrated fuel fabrication business is core to our business model. Once constructed, our first advanced nuclear fuel fabrication facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, called TX-1, is expected to be North America's first purpose-built commercial advanced nuclear fuel fabrication facility. It is being built with a 50/50 cost share in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy, helping to reduce the overall project risk. Fuel from the facility is expected to power our initial fleet of Xe-100 reactors,” CEO J. Clay Sell said in a call with investors after the latest earnings release.

While X-Energy is also advancing commercial partnerships with customers including Dow and Amazon, for now, revenue remains heavily concentrated in government-backed sources, constituting about 82% of total revenue and grant income.

Though revenue is currently highly concentrated, some investors believe that the government support is a bullish signal for the stock.

Nearly $2B In Liquidity Gives X-Energy Room To Execute

X-Energy ended the first quarter with $458.9 million in cash, while carrying zero outstanding debt. Management noted in its latest earnings call that following its IPO, which generated approximately $1.1 billion in net proceeds, the company’s total liquidity increased to around $2 billion, significantly strengthening its balance sheet.

XE Has A Large Reactor Pipeline

As of March 31, X-Energy's development pipeline included 144 reactors across the U.S. and U.K., representing approximately 11.5 gigawatts of potential generating capacity.

The pipeline is anchored by major partners including Dow, Amazon and Centrica, which are expected to support the initial rollout of the company's Xe-100 reactor fleet, the company has said.

This demonstrates that X-Energy has already secured relationships with several large customers and the sizable reactor pipeline provides long-term visibility into potential future revenue.

Wall Street Thinks XE's Selloff Has Gone Too Far

Meanwhile, Wall Street analysts are also exceedingly bullish on XE stock. According to data from Koyfin, the 12-month average price target on the stock is $37.86, based on eight analysts’ estimates.

Six of those covering the stock rate it ‘Buy’ or higher, while the other two have a ‘Hold’ rating on XE.

Last month, TD Cowen named the company the best ‘smid-cap idea,’ a classification that combines small-cap and mid-cap businesses, for 2026 and maintained a ‘Buy’ rating on XE stock with a $35 price target.

The analyst said, as per TheFly, that the stock's pullback following the first quarter (Q1) results seemed overdone. TD also added that it sees several catalysts that could help de-risk the X-Energy story later this year.

Growing Spotlight On Nuclear Stocks

While X-Energy remains a pre-commercial nuclear developer, ARK's aggressive buying comes as nuclear stocks gain momentum amid soaring electricity demand from AI data centers and renewed policy support from the government.

The sector has also benefited from government-backed financing programs, efforts to streamline approvals for advanced reactors, and broader initiatives aimed at strengthening domestic nuclear energy capacity.

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