NuScale’s Fading Glow

The shares of NuScale Power, purveyors of miniature nuclear dreams, experienced a rather unceremonious plummet this Wednesday. A fall, if you will, not unlike Behemoth’s descent upon Moscow, though thankfully less…fiery. A mere 9.3% tumble, it’s true, but in the realm of speculative finance, such dips often herald a storm. And the culprit? A Wall Street analyst, naturally. One Marc Bianchi of TD Cowen, a name that will likely not grace the annals of heroism.

A Kick to the Curb, Gently Delivered

Bianchi, it seems, has downgraded NuScale from ‘buy’ to ‘hold,’ a linguistic demotion that carries the weight of a thousand disappointed investors. He speaks of ‘negative catalysts,’ a phrase as bland as unsalted porridge, yet hinting at a potential unraveling. The poor souls who invested in NuScale already suffered a 36% loss over the past year. It’s a tragedy, really. A modern parable of ambition and…well, physics.

The crux of the matter lies in Doicesti, Romania, where Nuclearelectrica intends to build a small modular reactor. A Final Investment Decision (FID) looms this week, and Bianchi anticipates its arrival. However, he also predicts a shifting of risk – a subtle art of blame, if you will – onto NuScale itself, and a delay in completion until 2033 or 2034. From a previously optimistic 2030. One wonders if the Romanians have consulted a fortune teller. Or, perhaps, simply possess a healthy dose of realism.

The truly unsettling part? Other nuclear utilities are watching Doicesti like vultures circling a particularly promising carcass. They’re treating it as a ‘validation point,’ a test case for NuScale’s commercial viability. It’s a rather precarious position, isn’t it? To have one’s fate hanging on the whims of Romanian infrastructure. One can almost hear the faint strains of a balalaika accompanying the impending doom.

A Sell? Or a Slow Fade into Oblivion?

The long and short of it is this: if Doicesti languishes, NuScale’s other projects may follow suit. A domino effect, you see. And what does this mean for those who’ve wagered their fortunes on these miniature reactors? Most analysts predicted a first profit in 2030, coinciding with the opening of Doicesti. But if that opening is delayed by three or four years…well, the profits may remain stubbornly elusive. A phantom fortune, shimmering just beyond reach.

Bianchi, with a commendable honesty, admits he cannot assign a price target. The business is, in his words, ‘early stage.’ A polite euphemism for ‘utterly speculative,’ perhaps? One suspects he fears assigning a number to a dream built on sand. And frankly, one wouldn’t blame him. The world is full of enough illusions already.

Perhaps, dear reader, you shouldn’t either. There are, after all, more reliable ways to lose one’s money.

2026-02-11 20:12

A Kick to the Curb, Gently Delivered

A Sell? Or a Slow Fade into Oblivion?

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