The world’s first nuclear power plant opened in 1951. But despite the potential of the technology to deliver large quantities of clean energy, it remained less popular than oil, natural gas, and coal in all but one country: France.
Today however, it seems the world is finally waking up to the possibilities of a nuclear-powered energy grid. France generates 70% of its electricity from its nuclear reactor fleet and has doubled down on the technology, approving life extension measures for 20 of its reactors last year.
Japan is resurrecting its nuclear grid after a decade of relative inactivity with the goal of generating 20% of its power from nuclear energy. South Korea has announced plans for two large nuclear reactors to be completed by 2038.
Image source: Getty Images.
And right here in America, the U.S. Department of Energy has set a long-term goal to triple America’s nuclear energy capacity by the middle of the century.
Around the world there are 75 new nuclear reactors under construction with another 120 planned in countries like Russia, Hungary, India, China, and Turkey.
The interest in nuclear power has seen the spot price of uranium, the one mineral all the world’s reactors need to function, grow by almost 35% over the past year.
In fact, prior to the current conflict between the U.S., Israel, and Iran, uranium was the only energy resource that had gone up in value over that time.
And as luck would have it, there is a fantastic one-ticker way to play the nuclear renaissance in Saskatoon, Canada’s Cameco (CCJ 4.46%).
Hot rocks
Last year, Cameco produced 15% of all uranium produced globally, which made it the second largest uranium miner in the world behind only Kazakhstan’s Kazatomprom.
What’s particularly impressive about that is the fact that Cameco only holds three producing mines. The secret sauce for the company is the high-grade uranium ore its mines produce.
McArthur River, the world’s largest high-grade uranium mine, has an average grade of 6.48% and has enough uranium in it to keep producing through 2044.
Cigar Lake is one of the highest-grade uranium mines in the world. However, its reserves are much smaller so it is only projected to last through 2036.
The third mine is Inkai, in Kazakhstan. It has about the same lifespan as McArthur River but the average grade of its ore is only 0.03%. That means it takes a whole lot more ore from that mine to create usable fuel.
And that’s how Canada (and Cameco) can compete with Kazakhstan, which has some of the largest uranium reserves in the world, a full 14% of all the world’s uranium resources. It has a lot of uranium but it’s not highly concentrated and you need a lot of ore to make fuel.
However, Cameco does far more than just mine uranium.
Today’s Change
(-4.46%) $-4.76
Current Price
$101.84
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$44B
Day’s Range
$100.11 – $106.94
52wk Range
$35.00 – $135.24
Volume
194K
Avg Vol
4.1M
Gross Margin
26.70%
Dividend Yield
0.17%
The whole nine yards
Cameco is present in almost every link of the nuclear supply chain.
It produces uranium ore from mining, which can then be refined at Cameco’s Blind River Refinery, converted at the company’s Port Hope Conversion Facility, and turned into finished nuclear fuel rods through Cameco Fuel Manufacturing.
Beyond that, Cameco even has a hand in the reactors that use the fuel it produces to generate power. It holds 49% of engineering company Westinghouse as a joint venture with Brookfield Renewable Partners.
Westinghouse currently manufactures the most advanced commercially available nuclear reactor in the world, the AP1000. And it’s working on its own small modular reactor (SMR), the AP300, which it plans to have ready for construction by 2030.
The United States has two AP1000 reactors in operation, while China has four with another 14 under construction. Poland, Bulgaria, Ukraine, and India have all contracted or selected the AP1000 in various numbers.
And speaking of India, Cameco uranium will likely be going into those reactors if they’re contracted and completed because in early March it signed a 22 million pound uranium ore concentrate supply agreement worth $1.9 billion with the country.
All that is working out pretty well for Cameco so far based on its latest results.
Big money in splitting atoms
For its full-year 2025, Cameco generated revenue of $3.48 billion, up 11% over 2024. Its adjusted and diluted earnings per share (EPS) for 2025 grew 114.9%.
And that’s in spite of the fact that Cameco produced 10% less uranium in 2025 as it did in 2024.
The boost came from the 6% increase in average realized price in uranium sold, from $58.34 per pound to $62.11.
It’s also worth noting that, in an industry as capital intensive as mining, Cameco maintains a net profit margin of 16.93% and has a very healthy balance sheet with a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14%.
So, Cameco is a growing and financially stable company with world-class assets operating in an industry set to grow for the next several decades. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a winner to me.
