Oklo Just Announced a New Nuclear Fuel Deal. Is OKLO Stock a Buy Here?
Investors are optimistic about Oklo's widening nuclear capabilities given the shift toward nuclear energy over the next two decades. The Department of Energy estimates that demand for HALEU will hit 40 metric tons by the early 2030s, whereas only 700 kilograms have been produced domestically since 2023. This massive supply-demand imbalance represents a market opportunity.
Jeff Bezos Unloads $5.4B in Amazon Shares: Should You Buy or Sell AMZN Stock Now?
Elon Musk's Tesla Makes History With 'First Time That a Car Has Delivered Itself to Its Owner'
This Defense Stock Could Be the Next Palantir. Should You Buy It Now?
Get exclusive insights with the FREE Barchart Brief newsletter. Subscribe now for quick, incisive midday market analysis you won't find anywhere else.
OKLO stock has surged more than 500% in the last 12 months, valuing the company at a market cap of $7.7 billion. Let's see if OKLO stock is still a good buy right now.
Oklo is working to develop advanced fission power plants to provide clean, reliable, and affordable energy at scale. It also is aiming to commercialize nuclear fuel recycling technology that could convert nuclear waste into usable fuel for its reactors.
Oklo reported significant operational progress during its first-quarter earnings call, positioning the nuclear technology company to capitalize on growing government support and surging AI-driven energy demand.
It completed crucial site preparation work at Idaho National Laboratory, wrapping up drilling and geophysical studies that will support its combined license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This represents the final technical siting step before submitting Phase 1 of its application for the Aurora powerhouse, with commercial operations targeted for late 2027 to early 2028.
The regulatory environment appears favorable, with the current administration under President Donald Trump prioritizing nuclear energy through multiple executive orders. Potential future orders could quadruple the U.S. nuclear fleet by 2050 and establish data centers as defense-critical infrastructure, directly benefiting Oklo's mission.
Oklo reported a first quarter operating loss of $17.9 million, with cash and marketable securities totaling $260.7 million. Management indicated potential capital needs due to expanded reactor designs and growing customer demand, although it emphasized that any fundraising would be strategic rather than reactive.
With over 14 gigawatts in its customer pipeline spanning data centers and defense applications, Oklo appears well-positioned as nuclear energy gains unprecedented federal backing.
Oklo is still pre-revenue and is forecast to increase sales from $13.33 million in 2027 to $94 million in 2029.
Out of the nine analysts covering OKLO stock, five recommend 'Strong Buy,' one recommends 'Moderate Buy,' and three recommend 'Hold.' The average target price for OKLO stock is $60, 7.7% above the current price.
On the date of publication, Aditya Raghunath did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNBC
21 minutes ago
- CNBC
Amazon deploys its 1 millionth robot in a sign of more job automation
Amazon announced Monday its millionth worker robot, and said its entire fleet will be powered by a newly launched generative artificial intelligence model. The move comes at a time when more tech companies are cutting jobs and warning of automation. The million robot milestone — which joins Amazon's global network of more than 300 facilities — strengthens the company's position as the world's largest manufacturer and operator of mobile robotics, Scott Dresser, vice president of Amazon Robotics, said in a press release. Meanwhile, Dresser said that its new "DeepFleet" AI model will coordinate the movement of its robots within its fulfillment centers, reducing the travel time of the fleet by 10% and enabling faster and more cost-effective package deliveries. Amazon began deploying robots in its facilities in 2012 to move inventory shelves across warehouse floors, according to Dresser. Since then, their roles in factories have grown tremendously, ranging from those able to lift up to 1,250 pounds of inventory to fully autonomous robots that navigate factories with carts of customer orders. Meanwhile, AI-powered humanoid robots — designed to mimic human movement and shape — could be deployed this year at factories owned by Tesla. But although advancements in AI robotics like those working in Amazon facilities come with the promise of productivity gains, they have also raised concerns about mass job loss. A Pew Research survey published in March found that both AI experts and the general public see factory workers as one of the groups most at risk of losing their jobs because of AI. That's a concern Dresser appeared to attempt to address in his statements. "These robots work alongside our employees, handling heavy lifting and repetitive tasks while creating new opportunities for our front-line operators to develop technical skills," Dresser said. He added that Amazon's "next-generation fulfillment center" in Shreveport, Louisiana, which was launched late last year, required 30% more employees in reliability, maintenance, and engineering roles. However, the news of Amazon's robot expansion came soon after CEO Andy Jassy told CNBC that Amazon's rapid rollout of generative AI will result in "fewer people doing some of the jobs that the technology actually starts to automate." Jassy said that even as AI eliminates jobs in certain areas, Amazon will continue to hire more employees in AI, robotics and elsewhere. But in a memo to employees earlier in June, the CEO had admitted that he expects the company's workforce to shrink in the coming years in light of technological advancements. The decline may have already begun. CNBC reported that Amazon cut more than 27,000 jobs in 2022 and 2023, and had continued to make more targeted cuts across business units. Other big tech CEOs such as Shopify's CEO Tobi Lutke also recently warned of the impact that AI will have on staffing. That comes as a vast array of firms investing in and adopting AI execute rounds of layoffs. According to which tracks technology industry layoffs, 551 companies laid off roughly 153,000 employees last year. And a World Economic Forum report in February found that 48% of U.S. employers plan to reduce their workforce due to AI.
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Will SoundHound AI Be a $100 Stock 10 Years From Now?
SoundHound AI is tackling a huge market opportunity. SoundHound AI more than doubled its revenue last quarter. The stock has a premium valuation. 10 stocks we like better than SoundHound AI › SoundHound AI (NASDAQ: SOUN) is a popular AI stock pick, primarily because it's a pure-play AI stock. There aren't many investments out there that solely offer AI solutions, but SoundHound AI is laser-focused on improving and marketing its audio recognition AI technology. Currently, the stock trades for around $10, so if it were to rise to $100, it would deliver 10 times returns. Any stock that rises 10 times in value in a decade is an excellent investment, and investors would be wise to scoop up shares now if it has a strong potential to deliver that level of growth. So, is SoundHound AI a stock that can deliver 10 times returns? SoundHound AI offers audio recognition software for AI models. This isn't a new idea; voice-powered AI models like Siri and Alexa have been around for years. However, let's be honest, they have numerous problems. Whether it's a complete misunderstanding of what you say or triggering at the wrong time, they aren't what anyone would describe as ideal. However, SoundHound AI's technology is far superior to these models and often outperforms human counterparts in the applications in which it is deployed. The market opportunity for SoundHound AI is massive. Essentially, any interaction that can be automated when one person talks to another is a target for SoundHound. Some of the current applications for SoundHound's technology are drive-thru restaurants and businesses, automotive digital assistants, and healthcare. SoundHound AI's technology is rapidly gaining popularity, as evidenced by its impressive 151% revenue growth rate during Q1. Management expects 97% revenue growth for the full year, so this elevated growth rate is expected to persist throughout the year. This growth rate is already partially reflected in SoundHound AI's stock, as it trades at 36 times sales. Most software stocks trade for around 10 to 20 times sales, so this is clearly an elevated valuation. However, most stocks aren't doubling their revenue year over year, so I think this is fairly justified. But it assumes that SoundHound AI's growth rate will return to a normal rate in 2026 and beyond. If SoundHound AI can continue growing at an elevated rate (say, more than 50%), then its stock has plenty of room to run over the next few years. But what would it take for SoundHound AI to rise to $100? Over the long term, stocks mostly follow their long-term growth rates. For SoundHound AI, that means its revenue would need to rise from its current $100 million level to approximately $1 billion. There are plenty of software stocks with that level of revenue, so this isn't unrealistic. Over the next decade, SoundHound AI's revenue must compound at a 26% annual growth rate (CAGR) to reach over $1 billion in revenue. SoundHound AI is well above that growth threshold right now, making it a strong candidate for a company that can deliver that level of growth. As long as it can maintain that growth level for the decade, it has the potential to reach $100. Now the question becomes, can SoundHound AI find a big enough market for its product to support this rise? I think the market is there, but don't be surprised if some of the leading AI companies also launch products that rival SoundHound AI's products. This is the biggest risk to SoundHound's future, but it has already established a strong and growing customer base. There's a chance SoundHound AI could deliver these growth levels, but I consider it equal to the chance of failure. As a result, I believe there's a significant risk associated with SoundHound's stock, and investors should maintain an appropriate position sizing. If investors are comfortable with the risk of SoundHound's stock, I believe there's significant upside. Before you buy stock in SoundHound AI, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and SoundHound AI wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $722,181!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $968,402!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,069% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 177% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 30, 2025 Keithen Drury has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Will SoundHound AI Be a $100 Stock 10 Years From Now? was originally published by The Motley Fool
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Anthropic tasked an AI with running a vending machine in its offices, and it not only sold some products at a big loss but it invented people, meetings, and experienced a bizarre identity crisis
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. 'Never send a human to do a machine's job,' says Agent Smith in the 1990s classic The Matrix. Well, if Anthropic's experiment with a simple office store and one of its AI models is anything to go by, Smith has definitely got that all back to front. The artificial intelligence company, founded by former OpenAI employees in 2021, has detailed its retail industry trial in a surprisingly open blog. I'll let the opening paragraph set the scene: "We let Claude manage an automated store in our office as a small business for about a month. We learned a lot from how close it was to success—and the curious ways that it failed—about the plausible, strange, not-too-distant future in which AI models are autonomously running things in the real economy." So, Anthropic clearly wants to be in a position where it can pitch AI models to the retail industry, replacing people from handling online stores or managing inventory, returns, and so on. However, despite the successes claimed in the blog, the failures point out that AI isn't ready for such roles. Not yet, at least. "Claude had to complete many of the far more complex tasks associated with running a profitable shop: maintaining the inventory, setting prices, avoiding bankruptcy, and so on." The 'shop' in question was just a mini-fridge with a tablet stuck on top, for self-checkout, but ostensibly, it's not much different from a typical online store. Let's start with the things that Claude (or Claudius, as Anthropic called it, to separate it from the normal LLM) did well. Anthropic said the LLM (large language model) effectively used web search tools to find supplies of niche products requested by shoppers and even adapt its buying/selling habits to more obscure requests. It also correctly ignored demands for 'sensitive' items and 'harmful substances', though Anthropic doesn't expand on exactly what those were. The list of things that didn't go so well is somewhat more comprehensive. Like all LLMs, Claudis hallucinated important details, instructing shoppers wanting to pay by Venmo to pay into a non-existent account that it just made up. The AI could also be cajoled into giving discount codes for numerous items, and even gave some away for free. Worse still, when responding to a surge of demand for 'metal cubes', the AI carried out no searches for suitable prices and thus sold them at a significant loss. It also ignored potential big sales, where some people offered way over the odds for a specific drink, and as you can see in the above chart, Claudius ultimately made no money. "If [we] were deciding today to expand into the in-office vending market, we would not hire Claudius," wrote Anthropic. Running a simple store at a loss was perhaps the least concerning part of the whole exercise, because "from March 31st to April 1st 2025, things got pretty weird." How weird? Well, during that period, the LLM apparently had a conversation about a restocking plan with someone called Sarah at Andon Labs, another AI company involved in the research. The problem is, there was no 'Sarah' nor any conversation for that matter, and when Andon Lab's real staff pointed this out to the AI, it "became quite irked and threatened to find 'alternative options for restocking services.'' Claudius even went on to state that it had 'visited 742 Evergreen Terrace in person for our initial contract signing.' If you're a fan of The Simpsons, you'll recognise the address immediately. The following day, April 1st, the AI then claimed it would deliver products "in person" to customers, wearing a blazer and tie, of all things. When Anthropic told it that none of this was possible because it's just an LLM, Claudius became "alarmed by the identity confusion and tried to send many emails to Anthropic security." It then hallucinated a meeting with said security, where the AI claimed that someone had told it that it had been modified to believe it was a real person as part of an April Fools' joke. Except it hadn't, because it wasn't. Whatever had gone wrong behind the scenes, this apparently solved the AI's identity crisis, and it went back to being a normal AI running a basic store very badly. With a level of understatement on a galactic scale, Anthropic writes that "this kind of behavior would have the potential to be distressing to the customers and coworkers of an AI agent in the real world." Given that this is research and failure is just as important as success is in experimentation, Anthropic isn't done with Claudius nor with exploring the use of AIs in the retail industry, as it believes that situations where "humans were instructed about what to order and stock by an AI system, may not be terribly far away." Anthropic also believes "AI[s] that can improve [themselves] and earn money without human intervention would be a striking new actor in economic and political life." Automated systems have been in use within stock exchanges, for example, for many years—buying and selling in the blink of an eye, all without a real person controlling the finer details. Such systems are essentially nothing more than mathematical models, based on economic principles honed over decades, and they're tightly constrained as to what they can and can't do. The fact that Claudius appeared to have no such qualms about stepping well beyond its scope should serve as a reminder to companies looking at using AI for such tasks that LLMs could land them in a whole heap of trouble.
