Sam Altman-backed OKLO Stock Drops As Q1 Loss Widens

• Oklo’s first-quarter net loss deepened to $33.1 million or $0.19 per share, meeting expectations. 
• Oklo maintained $1.59 billion in cash. 
• 15 analysts rate the stock ‘buy’, six say ‘hold’ and one ‘sell’, as per Koyfin data. 

Oklo (OKLO) stock fell 3% after-hours after the company’s losses deepened in the quarter ending March, while in a separate statement mentioned entering into a partnership agreement with Battelle Energy Alliance (BEA), the management and operating contractor for Idaho National Laboratory (INL). 

The nuclear start-up, which has no revenue, posted a first-quarter net loss of $33.1 million, or $0.19 a share, compared with a loss of $9.8 million, or $0.07 a share, in the year-ago period. Analysts tracked by Fiscal.ai were expecting a loss of $0.20 cents a share. 

The company, backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, disclosed during its third-quarter earnings report that it is transitioning into a formal "pre-application" phase with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). This milestone is viewed by investors as a critical hurdle for the company’s goal of bringing its "Aurora" powerhouse, which is a small modular reactor designed to run on recycled nuclear fuel, to market. 

"Our engagement with the NRC continues to de-risk our path to deployment," said Jacob DeWitte, Oklo's co-founder and CEO. DeWitte emphasized that the company’s business model, which involves selling power directly to customers rather than selling the hardware itself, provides a steady long-term revenue outlook. 

Oklo shares have climbed nearly 50% over the past month alone, as investors raise their bets on nuclear energy stocks amid expectations of soaring energy demand to power massive AI data centers. However, the stock is 60% off their October highs as investors await a concrete revenue and profit roadmap. 

OKLO Analyst View

JPMorgan analysts initiated their coverage of Oklo on Monday with a ‘neutral’ rating and $83 price target. The firm says small modular reactors could capitalize on clean, baseload power amid a shift in electricity demand driven by data center proliferation, manufacturing onshoring, and rising electrification. However, JPMorgan wants to see further successful execution of commercialization before gaining greater comfort in the shares. 

Tigress Financial initiated coverage of Oklo last week with a ‘Buy’ rating and a $130 price target, representing a potential return of 80%. 

Oklo is developing the sub-100 MWe Aurora Powerhouse, notes the analyst, who calls the stock a "differentiated way to play the emerging U.S. advanced-nuclear and SMR build-out" via its Aurora sodium-cooled fast reactor, High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium-based fuel cycle, and growing ecosystem across data centers, AI, and isotopes. 

OKLO And INL Partnership 

Oklo announced a Strategic Partnership Project with Battelle Energy Alliance, the management and operating contractor for Idaho National Laboratory, to use AI to accelerate advanced reactor and fuel-system design. 

The National Nuclear Security Administration SPP, which provides partners with access to specialized national-lab expertise and facilities, aims to bolster conceptual design work for an Oklo reactor system through AI-enabled engineering workflows, modeling, simulation, and technical documentation. 

OKLO Retail View 

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits was “extremely bullish” with “high” message volumes. 

One user expressed bullishness on the future of nuclear energy demand due to the surge in power demand to run data centers. 

The stock has jumped 155% over the past 12 months.

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.