After President Donald Trump signed the ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ which reduced incentives for solar and wind power projects, Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest is making a strong case for nuclear energy, arguing it could become the most cost-effective power source -- even as solar has long held that title.
What Happened: The newly enacted bill delivers a significant blow to renewable energy, phasing out critical investment and production tax credits that have been instrumental in the expansion of wind and solar industries since 1992 and 2005, respectively.
Meanwhile, Trump clarified that the U.S. will rely on oil, gas, coal and nuclear to meet its growing energy needs, according to a CNBC report.
Amid this, Ark Invest is championing nuclear power. In a recent research note, Sam Korus, Director of Research for Autonomous Technology and Robotics at Ark, contends that despite historical cost challenges, nuclear energy’s high utilization rates fundamentally alter its cost-competitiveness.
While solar plants typically operate at capacity utilization rates in the low 20%, nuclear plants boast over 80% utilization. This key distinction, when factored in, positions nuclear to potentially outcompete solar on a cost-per-watt basis.
Korus acknowledges solar’s continued cost decline but points to substantial logistical hurdles, such as the vast land requirements (estimated at 71.4 million acres) and complex real estate negotiations, which could impede large-scale solar deployment and necessitate alternative baseload sources like nuclear.
The tax bill states that only projects commencing construction within 12 months of the bill’s enactment will receive an exception, creating an urgent 2.5-year window for completion.
See Also: Lockheed Martin Tops Defense Peers In Capital Efficiency -- But Market Isn’t Impressed
Why It Matters: As the Trump administration, along with Ark’s research, sees nuclear energy as a potential beneficiary of the recent policy changes, here is a list of nuclear energy stocks that investors could consider.
| Nuclear Energy Stocks | YTD Performance | One Year Performance |
| Oklo Inc. (NYSE:OKLO) | 145.86% | 623.99% |
| Nuscale Power Corp.(NYSE:SMR) | 102.60% | 162.09% |
| Lightbridge Corp. (NASDAQ:LTBR) | 150.59% | 213.24% |
| Centrus Energy Corp. (NYSE:LEU) | 137.20% | 347.86% |
| BWX Technologies Inc. (NYSE:BWXT) | 28.19% | 49.60% |
| Constellation Energy Corp. (NASDAQ:CEG) | 28.56% | 44.57% |
| Talen Energy Corp. (NASDAQ:TLN) | 34.91% | 140.62% |
| Entergy Corp. (NYSE:ETR) | 8.65% | 56.40% |
Meanwhile, here is also a list of clean energy stocks, including solar and wind power firms, that may be affected by the policy change.
| Clean Energy Stocks | YTD Performance | One-Year Performance |
| First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) | -0.77% | -18.53% |
| SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ:SPWR) | 14.53% | 65.32% |
| Wind Systems (OTCQX:VWDRY) | 28.07% | -25.79% |
| NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) | 3.17% | 2.45% |
| Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG) | -36.91% | -44.32% |
| Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ:BLDP) | -3.80% | -24.03% |
| Fluence Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FLNC) | -50.27% | -51.08% |
| iShares Global Clean Energy ETF (NASDAQ:ICLN) | 19.22% | 0.95% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, were lower in premarket on Monday. The SPY was down 0.28% at $623.61, while the QQQ declined 0.43% to $553.83, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Image Via Shutterstock/bombermoon
