Key Highlights

  • Shares are trading at $8.40, down 7.14% in Friday's session, tumbling toward a fresh 52-week low.
  • A bank downgraded the stock to Sell from Neutral this week, slashing its price target to $6 from $10 and citing long project timelines and weak customer visibility.
  • The downgrade-driven plunge was compounded by reports of a securities-fraud probe into the company, adding legal overhang just days after shares had rallied on a legislative tailwind.
  • Street consensus remains an average Hold rating with a mean target near $12-13, even as investors weigh the company's $1.9 billion cash position against near-term execution risk.

Bearish Downgrade Drives Shares Toward a Fresh Low

NuScale Power (NYSE:SMR) shares tumbled toward a fresh 52-week low in Friday's session as fallout from a bank's bearish call continued to weigh on sentiment. The bank downgraded the stock to Sell from Neutral this week and cut its price target to $6 from $10, citing long project timelines, weak customer visibility, and heavy expected cash burn, while assuming only one project reaches construction by 2028.

NuScale Power is a Corvallis, Oregon-based industry-leading provider of proprietary small modular reactor nuclear technology, holding the distinction of being the first and only small modular reactor developer to receive design certification from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Fraud Probe Reports Add Legal Overhang

Compounding the pressure, reports emerged of a securities-fraud probe into NuScale following the downgrade-driven plunge, adding legal overhang just as the stock had rallied on Thursday's House passage of the Ratepayer Protection Act, which could boost Demand for small modular reactors by shifting data-center power costs to tech companies.

Street Consensus Remains More Constructive Than Today's Move Suggests

Despite the bank's bearish view, Street consensus remains an average Hold rating with a mean target near $12-13, and investors continue to weigh the company's $1.9 billion cash position and ongoing commercialization progress against concerns about thin near-term Revenue and execution risk. The company's core offering, the NuScale Power Module, is a factory-fabricated light water reactor capable of generating 77 megawatts of electricity per module.