Paladin, NexGen and Boss rally after Google's 20-year nuclear deal
Spot uranium is up 12.6% in a year but the stocks have lagged. Google's latest nuclear deal just gave them a much-needed jolt.
Source: Shutterstock, Market Index
Mentioned
KEY POINTS
- ASX uranium stocks jumped as much as 8.6% after Google signed a 20-year deal for 890MW of Constellation nuclear power. The US-listed Uranium ETF rose 4% overnight
- Past big tech nuclear deals have sparked similar rallies. The Uranium ETF rose 4.1% on Microsoft's Three Mile Island deal in 2024 and 7% on Amazon's SMR commitments
- Boss, Lotus and Paladin each have more than 11% of shares shorted. Despite spot uranium rising 12.6% in a year, the stocks trade more on risk appetite than demand
ASX-listed uranium stocks are trading sharply higher after a rough patch, where key names like Paladin Energy and NexGen rallied as much as 6% in early trade.
Here's a snapshot of how the stocks fared in early trade, though most are slightly down in the past week and negative year-to-date.
Ticker | Company | % Chg | Price | 1 week | YTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BMN | Bannerman Energy | 8.6% | $3.7 | 4.9% | 10.2% |
AGE | Alligator Energy | 8.3% | $0.0 | -2.5% | 56.0% |
DYL | Deep Yellow | 7.4% | $1.2 | -6.8% | -36.7% |
BOE | Boss Energy | 6.6% | $1.6 | 0.0% | 9.9% |
PDN | Paladin Energy | 4.9% | $9.5 | 1.1% | -1.2% |
EL8 | Elevate Uranium | 4.8% | $0.2 | 2.3% | -22.8% |
NXG | Nexgen Energy | 4.7% | $13.5 | 5.0% | -3.1% |
AEE | Aura Energy | 4.2% | $0.1 | -1.0% | -41.8% |
DEV | Devex Resources | 2.9% | $0.2 | -3.8% | 2.9% |
PEN | Peninsula Energy | 2.9% | $0.2 | -5.0% | -61.5% |
LOT | Lotus Resources | 2.4% | $0.2 | -16.0% | -88.3% |
T92 | Terra Critical Minerals | 0.0% | $0.0 | -15.6% | -20.8% |
Uranium stocks rallied overnight after Google struck a 20-year power purchase agreement with US power producer Constellation Energy to bring 890 megawatts of nuclear capacity to meet growing demand. The NYSE-listed Global X Uranium ETF (URA), which holds names like Cameco, Paladin and NexGen, rallied 4.0%.
What big tech's nuclear build-out means for uranium
When deals like this are made it generally means good things for the ASX Uranium sector.
On Friday 20 September 2024, Microsoft partnered with Constellation in a similar 20-year power purchase agreement to restart Three Mile Island Unit 1, a reactor shut down for economic reasons in 2019. The Uranium ETF rose 4.1% that day, but the ASX had already closed for the week, so Paladin couldn't react until Monday, when it opened 4.6% higher.
The following month, on 14 October 2024, Google signed a deal with Kairos Power to deploy a 500-megawatt fleet of small modular reactors (SMRs), with the first targeted to come online by 2030, URA made a modest gain of 0.5% after the news.
Two days later, Amazon committed more than US$500 million across three SMR partnerships, including projects with Energy Northwest in Washington and Dominion Energy in Virginia and funding for reactor developer X-energy. The Uranium ETF rose 7% that day.
One of the most shorted sectors
ASX uranium stocks are heavily shorted as investors weigh near-term challenges such as ramp-up delays, cost inflation and spot price volatility against the long-term demand outlook for nuclear energy.
Data as at 1 October 2026
This high short interest can lead to sharp intraday volatility, such as Paladin's price movement today.
Open: +3.75% ($9.41)
High: +6.50% ($9.66)
Now: +3.95% ($9.43)
A rough patch
The Uranium spot price is up 12.6% over the past 12 months to US$89.85/lb, while the URA ETF has moved in the opposite direction, down 17% over the same period. This is despite strong momentum behind nuclear power. China has 36 reactors under construction, almost half of all reactors being built worldwide, while Meta, Amazon and Microsoft have all signed deals for nuclear capacity to power their AI data centres.
While long-term growth in nuclear energy and uranium demand looks all but locked in, uranium stocks are trading more like momentum-driven small caps, moving with broader risk appetite rather than the demand story.
