The Nuclear Stock That Went Vertical—Then Crashed 40% in a Month

Oklo’s story reads like a crypto pump-and-dump, except it’s a legit nuclear reactor company backed by the U.S. Department of Energy.

The hype: In 12 months, OKLO shares rocketed 9x (from ~$18 to $166 in mid-October). Investors went full FOMO mode betting on small modular nuclear reactors powering AI data centers—a genuinely compelling narrative.

The reality check: Then the stock tanked 40% in 30 days. Why? Because earnings season happened.

Oklo’s Q3 report dropped a bomb: zero revenue. Not a typo. The company has zero dollars in sales, and won’t touch revenue until 2027. Won’t hit profitability until 2030. Won’t generate positive free cash flow until 2033.

The burn rate problem: Oklo’s spending cash like a startup on steroids:

• $82.2M total operating costs YTD
• $36.3M burned in Q3 alone (44% of yearly burn in just 33% of the year)
• $55M cash burned so far this year = ~$73M annual run rate

Good news: They’ve got $923M in the bank. At current burn rates, they can survive 12+ years without hitting rock bottom.

Bad news: They might actually need to.

The millionaire-maker question: Yes, nuclear power for AI is a real mega-trend. Yes, DOE contracts are legitimately impressive. But here’s the math:

You’re not investing in Oklo—you’re speculating on whether management can:

1. Actually build these reactors (not just design them)
2. Scale to profitability (5+ years away)
3. Generate positive cash flow (8+ years away)

That requires iron-clad faith and the patience of a Buddhist monk.

The bottom line: Oklo went from speculative moonshot to speculative moonshot that revealed its financials. The stock market hated the reality check. Whether it recovers depends entirely on execution over the next decade—and nobody can predict that with confidence.

This isn’t a boring dividend play. It’s a binary bet on future energy infrastructure.