Just a few short years ago, the general consensus, both among the public and market analysts, was that nuclear energy was dead — a thing of the past. Even the most optimistic cases had it relegated to a mere supplement to other green or renewable sources of energy, such as wind and solar.
That narrative has all but evaporated for the last two years, artificial intelligence (AI) has been the dominant narrative in the financial markets. AI needs data centers, and lots of them — and those data centers require immense sources of stable, reliable energy.
Vistra Corp (NYSE: VST), which has sizable nuclear capacity, was the second-best performing stock in the S&P 500, after Palantir (NASDAQ: PLTR). Tech giants like Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) are also rushing in to secure a favorable position.
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Amidst this new gold rush, one company stands out — and that is Oklo (NYSE: OKLO). The business is a newcomer to the industry — having only gone public in May of 2024 — but it has secured the backing of OpenAI’s Sam Altman.
On January 24, one of Wall Street’s most renowned analysts doubled down on his bullish outlook on OKLO stock.
Wedbush analyst believes Project Stargate will benefit the budding nuclear stock
Dan Ives of Wedbush, renowned for his bullish tech takes, took to social media platform X to announce that he is raising his price target on OKLO shares to $45. Back in mid-December, Ives initiated coverage on the stock with an ‘Outperform’ rating, which he has now reaffirmed, and a $26 price target.
Wedbush is confident that the AI revolution data center buildout will increase under the Trump administration. In addition, the analyst opined that Project Stargate, the White House’s recently announced $500 billion AI infrastructure project, is only the beginning of a larger AI initiative that is brewing in Washington.
If met, Ives’s forecast would equate to a 17.34% upside from the $38.35 price of OKLO stock as of press time on January 24. Since the start of 2025, the price of Oklo shares has rallied by an impressive 80.62%.
Finbold news reporter and researcher Andreja Stojanovic had previously dubbed OKLO one of the best tech stocks to buy in October of 2024 — when it was trading at a price of $18.65.
At present, the outlook for the up-and-coming nuclear stock seems bright. Back in mid-December, OKLO stock rallied by 18% after the company signed a deal to provide up to 12 gigawatts of power to data center provider Switch. In January, nuclear energy providers also became eligible for an additional set of tax credits.
Oklo will release its next earnings report on February 13.
Featured image via Shutterstock
