Uranium prices have rebounded to $81.55 per pound at the end of 2025, up from a low of $18 in November 2016. This follows a period of decline after the 2011 Fukushima disaster, when many nuclear energy stocks fell sharply.
New decarbonization initiatives and growing demand from cloud computing, high-performance computing, and artificial intelligence markets have driven renewed interest in nuclear power. Geopolitical conflicts in uranium-rich regions have also constrained global supply.
Analysts project uranium prices could reach $100 in 2026 and $140 in 2027. The International Atomic Energy Agency forecasts global nuclear capacity could increase up to 2.5 times between 2024 and 2050.
Cameco, based in Canada, mined 17% of the world's uranium in 2024, making it the second largest uranium miner after Kazakhstan's Kazatomprom. The company reopened its two largest mines in 2022 after closing them during the price downturn.
Cameco holds a 49% stake in Global Laser Enrichment, a joint venture with Silex. It also partnered with Brookfield Asset Management in 2023 to acquire a 49% stake in Westinghouse Electric, a nuclear power plant designer and builder.
Centrus Energy is one of the few U.S. companies licensed to sell low-enriched uranium for commercial nuclear reactors. It is the only publicly listed U.S. company producing high-assay low-enriched uranium for advanced reactors.
Centrus, once known as USEC, previously relied on the "Megatons to Megawatts" program that ended in 2013. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in 2014 but has since restructured. It now imports LEU from global suppliers like Orano and resells it to U.S. utilities.
The company has resumed enriching HALEU at its American Centrifuge Plant in Ohio through small government contracts. Its backlog of LEU orders reached $3.0 billion in the third quarter of 2025.
Analysts expect Cameco's revenue and earnings per share to grow at compound annual rates of 9% and 89% respectively from 2024 to 2027. The stock trades at 67 times this year's earnings.
Centrus is projected to see revenue and EPS grow at 7% and 2% CAGR over the same period. Its stock trades at 77 times this year's earnings.
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