Cameco vs. Centrus vs. BWX Technologies: Ranking the 3 Nuclear Stocks That Get Paid Before a Reactor Is Built.

Cameco, Centrus, and BWX Technologies are three prominent players in the nuclear energy market. Cameco, a global leader in uranium mining, along with Centrus, a significant uranium enricher, and BWX Technologies, a key producer of specialized nuclear components, all stand to gain from the recent resurgence of the nuclear market. However, over the past year, Cameco's stock declined by 8%, BWX's fell by 7%, and Centrus' plummeted by 72%.

Cameco, headquartered in Canada, operates mines worldwide and owns stakes in Westinghouse Electric and Global Laser Enrichment. The company primarily earns revenue from mining but also invests in nuclear plant building and uranium enrichment to become a comprehensive solution provider. Cameco safeguards its clients through long-term, partly fixed-price contracts, but this limits its exposure to rising uranium prices.

Centrus, a U.S.-based company licensed to sell low-enriched uranium (LEU) and high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), has recently restarted its LEU plant in Ohio and started producing HALEU in the United States. This shift from a middleman to a first-party producer is negatively impacting its near-term margins.

BWX Technologies specializes in producing nuclear components, fuel systems, and naval reactor systems in North America. The company is authorized to work with regulated nuclear materials and handle HALEU and TRISO fuel. BWX also generates revenue from microreactors and has a diversified business model, making it more profitable than smaller next-gen reactor makers.

Rising interest rates pose a significant threat to all three companies, but BWX is expected to experience faster growth over the next few years due to its diversification and strong position in the nuclear supply chain.