After a rough week that saw it collapse 13.37% in the stock market, Oklo Inc (NYSE: OKLO) started the February 26 session with a strong rally that sent it soaring 12.65% to its press time price of $35.46.
The Sam Altman-backed nuclear energy company can mostly trace its latest rally to a February 25 announcement it would participate in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Voucher Program.
Why Oklo stock is surging on Voucher Program participation
Oklo’s participation will lend the company support in the “evaluation and testing of advanced structural materials” for the firm’s Aurora powerhouse, according to the press release.
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The voucher program itself is designed to facilitate improvements in scalability, supply chains, and manufacturing. Participation will see Oklo collaborate with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Jacob DeWitte, Co-Founder and CEO of Oklo, also voiced his enthusiasm for the partnership and its expected fruits of enabling the company’s customers to meet their energy goals sustainably:
We are proud of our ongoing collaboration with the DOE and National Laboratories, including this latest opportunity facilitated through the DOE’s Voucher Program. This project helps us refine proven fast reactor technologies to deliver scalable, cost-effective clean energy solutions that empower our customers to meet their energy goals sustainably. With 14 gigawatts of announced customers and partners in our pipeline, we believe we are well positioned to address growing energy demands across diverse applications.
Oklo stock has no shortage of tailwinds in 2025
Interestingly, Oklo tailwinds from the DOE have been expected for some time as, in a press release from February 6, the company offered a warm farewell to one of its board members —Chris Wright — as he was named the Trump administration’s Secretary of Energy.
Still, the nuclear reactor firm had no shortage of tailwinds from other areas of its business as it has risen to prominence, in part thanks to the fact Sam Altman of OpenAI — the company behind the popular artificial intelligence (AI) platform ChatGPT — is one of its directors.
Such a management setup, paired with President Donald Trump’s abundance-focused energy plans and The Stargate Project for the development of AI infrastructure to the tune of $500 billion over the course of several years, all appear to indicate Oklo is set to vastly upscale its business.
The overall bullish situation for OKLO shares is also evident in their overall performance. Indeed, despite being 36.09% below their 2025 price of $55.49, they remain 65.82% in the green year-to-date (YTD) and a stellar 316.62% up in the last 12 months.
Featured image via Shutterstock
