Are These Nuclear Energy Stocks No-Brainer Buys Right Now?

By Keith Speights – Mar 24, 2026 at 3:45AM ESTKey PointsConstellation is the king of the U.S. nuclear energy industry.Cameco is a juggernaut in mining the uranium needed to fuel nuclear power plants.Oklo and NuScale Power are wild cards with tremendous potential but no profits yet.What's the most critical component to the artificial intelligence (AI) boom? Some might say Nvidia's (NVDA +1.80%) GPUs. Others could suggest continually improving large language models from Google parent Alphabet (GOOG +0.08%) (GOOGL +0.34%), Anthropic, and OpenAI. However, I think the best answer to the question is electricity. Without electricity, we would have no AI. We would also have no air conditioning, internet, smartphones, or TV. Thanks to AI's seemingly insatiable need for more power, nuclear energy is making an impressive comeback. So are nuclear energy stocks. But not all nuclear energy stocks are equal. Some are practically no-brainer picks, and some aren't. Image source: Getty Images. Constellation Energy: The industry king Any discussion of nuclear energy stocks should begin with Constellation Energy (CEG +2.75%). The company is the world's largest non-government power producer. It's also the largest nuclear energy company in the U.S., providing power to around 2.5 million customers -- including 75% of the Fortune 100. Constellation's acquisition of Calpine earlier this year was a game changer for the company. Calpine is a leading producer of natural gas and geothermal electric power. The deal further diversified Constellation's portfolio of clean energy assets. ExpandNASDAQ: CEGConstellation EnergyToday's Change(2.75%) $7.77Current Price$289.76Key Data PointsMarket Cap$105BDay's Range$285.51 - $294.6452wk Range$161.35 - $412.70Volume2.4KAvg Vol3.6MGross Margin17.35%Dividend Yield0.55% One key thing for investors to like about Constellation Energy's business is that it has direct power purchase agreements with tech giants Microsoft (MSFT +0.31%) and Meta Platforms (META +1.71%). Both are 20-year agreements that lock in predictable long-term revenue. If there's any no-brainer nuclear energy stock to buy, it's Constellation Energy. Building a nuclear power plant requires billions of dollars, years of construction, and jumping through regulatory hurdles. Constellation's scale gives it an unmatched moat in the nuclear energy industry. It just might be the ultimate electric utility stock for the AI era. Cameco: a uranium juggernaut Nuclear reactors run by Constellation Energy (or any of its rivals) couldn't generate a single watt of electricity without uranium. Investors looking for a different angle to capitalize on the nuclear energy renaissance might want to check out Cameco (CCJ +3.94%). The Canadian company is the largest uranium mining stock by market cap and the world's second-largest uranium producer, trailing only Kazakhstan-based Kazatomprom. ExpandNYSE: CCJCamecoToday's Change(3.94%) $4.00Current Price$105.55Key Data PointsMarket Cap$46BDay's Range$102.02 - $106.6952wk Range$35.00 - $135.24Volume212KAvg Vol4.2MGross Margin26.70%Dividend Yield0.16% Cameco is the strongest candidate to be a no-brainer stock to buy in the uranium mining space. Its assets include the McArthur River and Cigar Lake mines in Canada, which together provide around 24% of the world's uranium supply. And with Kazakhstan's close ties with Russia, Cameco is more attractive to U.S. and European nuclear power companies. The wildcards The stocks of companies operating Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) have become intriguing to some investors in recent years. Although SMRs can generate only around one-third the capacity of traditional nuclear power reactors, their small size and modularity allow them to be installed at sites that aren't suitable for larger plants. They're more cost-effective than traditional nuclear power facilities. SMRs also enable incremental capacity increases as demand grows. Oklo (OKLO +4.21%) and NuScale Power (SMR +2.27%) are two of the most prominent pure-play SMR stocks. However, these stocks are also much more volatile than big nuclear energy players like Constellation Energy and Cameco. ExpandNYSE: OKLOOkloToday's Change(4.21%) $2.27Current Price$56.24Key Data PointsMarket Cap$9.8BDay's Range$54.05 - $57.2052wk Range$17.42 - $193.84Volume331KAvg Vol10M Importantly, neither Oklo nor NuScale Power are profitable yet. Although both stocks could have tremendous upside over the next decade, they don't meet the threshold to be no-brainer stocks for most investors. Smart AI pick-and-shovel plays. I think that the true no-brainer nuclear energy stocks are industry leaders that are already generating strong cash flow. Constellation Energy and Cameco fit the bill. These two companies help keep AI data centers running. Both stocks could be smart pick-and-shovel plays for long-term investors looking to profit from the AI boom. Read NextMar 22, 2026 •By Courtney Carlsen1 Brilliant Energy Stock to Buy Now and Hold for the Long TermMar 22, 2026 •By James HiresThe Top Nuclear Energy Stock to Buy in MarchMar 21, 2026 •By Lee SamahaThis Nuclear Energy Stock Is Rising as Oil Tops $119 Per BarrelMar 11, 2026 •By Courtney CarlsenThe Best 3 Nuclear Energy Stocks to Buy and Hold for DecadesFeb 27, 2026 •By Courtney CarlsenThe Best Stocks to Invest $1,000 in Right NowFeb 21, 2026 •By James HiresCameco Stock Down to Below $120 -- Is Now the Time to Buy?About the AuthorKeith Speights is a contributing Motley Fool healthcare analyst covering publicly traded companies across pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices, technology, and marijuana. Prior to The Motley Fool, Keith was CEO of Constant Care Technology, a healthcare technology company; vice president of American HealthTech, a healthcare software company; and a director of operations for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi, a health insurer. He holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Mississippi State University.TMFFishBizStocks MentionedCamecoNYSE: CCJ$105.57(+3.96%)+$4.02Meta PlatformsNASDAQ: META$603.80(+1.71%)+$10.14MicrosoftNASDAQ: MSFT$383.04(+0.31%)+$1.17AlphabetNASDAQ: GOOGL$302.02(+0.34%)+$1.02NvidiaNASDAQ: NVDA$175.81(+1.80%)+$3.11AlphabetNASDAQ: GOOG$299.02(+0.08%)+$0.23Constellation EnergyNASDAQ: CEG$289.76(+2.75%)+$7.77NuScale PowerNYSE: SMR$11.71(+2.32%)+$0.27OkloNYSE: OKLO$56.24(+4.21%)+$2.27*Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Cost basis and return based on previous market day close.