We recently published a list of 12 Best Nuclear Power Stocks to Buy Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Talen Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:TLN) stands against other best nuclear power stocks to buy now.
The United States of America is the largest producer of nuclear power in the world, accounting for almost 30% share of the global generation of nuclear electricity. The sector has witnessed an accelerated investor interest over the last year, largely driven by a continued focus on the goal to achieve net-zero carbon emissions and the widespread recognition of nuclear’s importance in the global ‘clean energy transition’. The International Energy Agency recently revealed that nuclear is set to generate a record level of electricity in 2025. There are more than 70 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity under construction around the world, one of the highest levels in the last 30 years, and more than 40 countries have plans to expand nuclear power’s role in their energy systems.
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One of the largest modern growth drivers of nuclear energy is SMRs, or small modular reactors, that have a power capacity of up to 300 MW(e) per unit and are quicker to build with greater scope for cost reductions. The IEA estimates that with the right support, SMR installations could reach 80 GW by 2040, accounting for 10% of the overall nuclear capacity globally. Several major US corporations are now actively working to develop the technology in the country, offering a potentially more flexible and cost-effective approach to nuclear power generation.
Another major accelerator for the industry is the ongoing AI boom and the accompanying data centers, which could consume as much as 9% of all energy generated in the US by 2030. This energy needs to come from a relatively cheap, clean, and reliable source where nuclear has massive potential. Several American tech giants are already investing billions of dollars in nuclear power and SMRs as an emissions-free source of electricity for their AI and other businesses. On the sidelines of the CERAWeek conference in Houston earlier this month, several major companies have even signed a pledge to support the goal of at least tripling the world’s nuclear energy capacity by 2050.
That said, a large number of nuclear energy stocks have lost momentum over the last year, primarily due to a steep fall in the prices of uranium. From highs of more than $105 per pound at the start of 2025, uranium prices have plunged to just over $63 currently. The decline of over 26% is influenced by factors such as the winding up of the Kazakh-based ANU, Trump tariff uncertainties, and geopolitical tensions with Russia, which account for around 44% of the global uranium enrichment capacity.
The United States imports the lion’s share of its uranium from Canada and President Trump’s 10% tariffs on energy imports from the northern neighbor could significantly hamper the growth of the nuclear sector. A Canadian uranium miner and producer stated last month that prices for US customers could jump by 10% if Trump’s tariff threats were to be implemented, raising costs for a sector that is looking to explode over the coming decade.
With that said, here are the Best Nuclear Energy Stocks to Invest in.
Our Methodology
To collect data for this article, we scanned Insider Monkey’s database of over 1,000 hedge funds and picked the top 12 companies operating in the nuclear power sector with the highest number of hedge fund investors in Q4 of 2024. When two or more companies had the same number of hedge funds investing in them, we ranked them by the revenue of their last financial year. Following are the Best Nuclear Energy Stocks to Buy According to Hedge Funds.
At Insider Monkey we are obsessed with the stocks that hedge funds pile into. The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
Talen Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:TLN)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 77
Ranked at number 4 on our list of the Best Nuclear Energy Stocks According to Hedge Funds is Talen Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:TLN), a leading independent power producer and energy infrastructure company with 10.7 GW of generation assets, including 2.2 GW of nuclear power and a significant dispatchable fossil fleet.
Talen Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:TLN) reported an EPS of $0.47 for Q4 2024, beating expectations by $0.67. Although its revenue of $467 million was down 11.39% YoY, it was still above estimates by over $33 million. The company reported a net income attributable to stockholders of $998 million for the full year 2024, up about 63% from 2023. Since the start of 2024, Talen has repurchased approximately 22% of its outstanding shares for a total of $1.95 billion, with $1.1 billion of remaining share repurchase program capacity through year-end 2026.
Bank of America Securities initiated coverage on Talen Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:TLN) last month, assigning the stock a Buy rating and setting a price target of $253. After the company agreed to provide power to Amazon’s AWS unit via its Susquehanna nuclear plant, the bank estimates that the deal will lift Talen’s annual EBITDA by $110 million starting in 2027. Moreover, the power producer has agreements in place that are guaranteed to generate $110 million of revenue between May 2025 and 2029.
ClearBridge Investments stated the following regarding Talen Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:TLN) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“We added several new positions during the quarter and updated our utilities and energy exposure. In utilities, we bought Talen Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:TLN), an independent power producer which sells electricity, capacity, and ancillary services into wholesale power markets, which we funded by exiting our position in Constellation Energy. Although both companies are merchant power producers that stand to benefit from higher power prices as AI data centers are brought online, we believe that Talen’s stock price has milder embedded expectations than does the more optimistic Constellation. As a result, we believe that Talen represents a much more attractive risk/reward tradeoff that still capitalizes on the strong, long-term trend toward higher power prices.”
Overall, TLN ranks 4th on our list of the best nuclear power stocks to buy now. While we acknowledge the potential for TLN, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than TLN but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
