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The Best Nuclear Stock to Invest $1,000 in Right Now
The Motley Foolยท 2025-07-15 00:20
Core Viewpoint - The nuclear power sector is gaining momentum, with President Trump aiming to quadruple U.S. nuclear power output by 2050, creating a favorable environment for investment in nuclear stocks, particularly Fluor [1]. Industry Overview - The U.S. government is accelerating nuclear power development through executive orders, including a commitment to approve new reactor licenses within 18 months and a pilot program for three experimental reactors by July 2026 [5]. - The Department of Energy plans to deploy advanced small modular reactors by the end of 2027 and aims for at least one operational nuclear reactor on a military base by September 2028 [5]. Company Analysis: Fluor - Fluor is identified as a strong investment opportunity in the nuclear sector, with a 19% stock increase over the past year, outperforming the S&P 500 [4]. - The company holds a majority interest in NuScale, which has a market capitalization of $10.3 billion, while Fluor's market cap is only $8.7 billion, indicating a potential undervaluation [7]. - Analysts project Fluor's earnings to be $470 million in 2026, $530 million in 2027, and $638 million in 2028, suggesting a stable earnings growth trajectory [8]. - Fluor's price-to-earnings ratio is estimated at 18.5 times forward earnings, which is considered reasonable given the expected earnings growth [9]. - The company is expected to generate positive free cash flow of $343 million this year, with a forecasted growth rate of over 20% annually for the next three years [10]. - Fluor's enterprise-value-to-free-cash-flow ratio is projected to be 21, indicating a favorable valuation compared to other nuclear companies that are not profitable [11].