NuScale Energy Is Fascinating, however This is What I might Purchase As an alternative

NuScale might be a lovely power supply as tech giants monitor nuclear power developments.
Nevertheless, NuScale is years away from commercialization, which makes it a really dangerous inventory.
Axcelis Applied sciences is a contrarian decide on account of its ion implantation expertise. The corporate is shifting its focus from the EV business to AI infrastructure.
10 shares we like higher than Axcelis Applied sciences ›

NuScale Energy (NYSE: SMR) might fulfill the subsequent wave of synthetic intelligence (AI) power calls for with its small modular reactors. The corporate goals to ship dependable, carbon-free nuclear energy that does not put stress on the facility grid.

The corporate will not be commercialized for a number of years, nevertheless it has made progress with its designs. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Fee authorized NuScale’s energy design for a 462-megawatt small modular reactor energy plant final yr, which is a giant benchmark for the corporate.

Nevertheless, your entire thesis relies on NuScale Energy shortly scaling income as soon as it’s commercialized. In the meantime, the inventory trades at a market capitalization of $5.6 billion, which is after it misplaced almost 65% of its worth from its all-time excessive.

Picture supply: Getty Photographs.

You do not have to select a speculative development inventory to journey the AI increase. Axcelis Applied sciences (NASDAQ: ACLS) caters to buyers who aren’t afraid of danger and imagine in comeback tales. It additionally has actual income and earnings, in contrast to NuScale Energy.

Axcelis Applied sciences has elevated by greater than 180% over the previous 5 years, however its shares have additionally declined by greater than 50% from their all-time excessive, which was reached in 2023. Axcelis makes a speciality of ion implantation, a method that produces transistors in electronics. These transistors are important for semiconductors to operate, together with these utilized in AI chips.

Since nearly something associated to AI has skilled sturdy development over the previous few years, it could be stunning to see that Axcelis remains to be effectively beneath its 2023 highs. That is as a result of the corporate’s major income driver was EV demand.

Being a key participant within the EV business labored effectively for Axcelis throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and shortly after it. In lower than three years, Axcelis inventory went from roughly $30 per share to briefly touching $200 per share. That was from 2021 to 2023.

EV gross sales have slowed down since 2023, and Axcelis’ inventory worth actions from mid-2023 to the tip of 2024 replicate this. The expiration of EV tax credit in 2025 made it even worse, however Axcelis nonetheless managed a 16% achieve over the previous yr.

Axcelis’ features regardless of a slowing EV market come right down to its concentrate on AI. The corporate’s ion implantation expertise is simply as vital for AI chips as it’s for electrical autos. Axcelis reported a 17% year-over-year income decline in Q3 however highlighted AI as a serious development alternative for the long run.

The corporate’s previous successes with the EV market and its capability to achieve market share shortly from 2021 to 2023 exhibit good management. Axcelis can also be merging with Veeco Devices within the hopes of constructing a number one semiconductor tools firm.

Axcelis’ This autumn steerage suggests income will drop but once more yr over yr. Nevertheless, the pessimism constructed across the inventory has resulted in a 20 P/E ratio.

If the mixed firm can achieve AI market share and obtain development charges much like what buyers noticed from 2021 to 2023, Axcelis seems like a contrarian decide at present ranges. The corporate ought to obtain its objectives effectively earlier than NuScale Energy lastly builds and commercializes one in all its nuclear energy crops.

Before you purchase inventory in Axcelis Applied sciences, take into account this:

The Motley Idiot Inventory Advisor analyst crew simply recognized what they imagine are the 10 finest shares for buyers to purchase now… and Axcelis Applied sciences wasn’t one in all them. The ten shares that made the lower might produce monster returns within the coming years.

Think about when Netflix made this checklist on December 17, 2004… when you invested $1,000 on the time of our suggestion, you’d have $482,326!* Or when Nvidia made this checklist on April 15, 2005… when you invested $1,000 on the time of our suggestion, you’d have $1,133,015!*

Now, it’s price noting Inventory Advisor’s whole common return is 968% — a market-crushing outperformance in comparison with 197% for the S&P 500. Do not miss the newest prime 10 checklist, obtainable with Inventory Advisor, and be part of an investing neighborhood constructed by particular person buyers for particular person buyers.

See the ten shares »

*Inventory Advisor returns as of January 10, 2026.

Marc Guberti has no place in any of the shares talked about. The Motley Idiot recommends NuScale Energy. The Motley Idiot has a disclosure coverage.

NuScale Energy Is Fascinating, however This is What I might Purchase As an alternative was initially printed by The Motley Idiot