LEU vs OKLO: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. LEU and OKLO share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined LEU and OKLO exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Centrus Energy, headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, supplies nuclear fuel and fuel-cycle services to the commercial power industry. It operates through two segments. The Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) segment buys separative work units (SWU) and uranium and sells enriched uranium to utilities that run nuclear reactors, a business carried by long-term contracts and a large multi-year order backlog. The Technical Solutions segment houses the company's American Centrifuge work, including its US-government HALEU enrichment contract, contract engineering, and technical services, and is the platform Centrus is using to build new domestic enrichment capacity.

Full LEU guide

Oklo (OKLO) is a US advanced-nuclear company developing small modular fast reactors, branded the Aurora powerhouse, intended to deliver clean baseload electricity from compact, factory-buildable units. Its model is to own and operate the plants and sell power under long-term agreements rather than just sell reactors, positioning it as a power provider for data centers, industrial users, and grid customers. Oklo also pursues recycling of used nuclear fuel as part of its long-term plan. The company is pre-revenue: it has no operating commercial reactors generating power yet, and its value rests on advancing reactor design, securing US Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing, building a supply chain and fuel access, and converting a pipeline of customer interest into deployed, revenue-generating plants. Oklo became publicly traded through a SPAC merger and trades on the New York Stock Exchange. It is closely associated with the AI-driven surge in electricity demand and the broader nuclear revival, which makes it a high-profile but speculative early-stage holding.

Full OKLO guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• LEU drivers: HALEU and the DOE expansion award; Russian-import-ban tailwind and reshoring.
• OKLO drivers: AI-era electricity demand; Own-and-operate power model.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: Centrus is heavily dependent on government funding and contracts: its HALEU program runs on DOE awards and extensions, and a multi-billion-dollar expansion relies on continued federal support and appropriations that can shift with politics. For OKLO, oklo is pre-revenue with no operating commercial reactors, so it carries substantial execution risk: NRC licensing is rigorous and can take years, first-of-a-kind nuclear construction often runs over budget and behind schedule, and fuel supply (especially HALEU) is a real constraint.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick LEU if you believe its drivers more; OKLO if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the LEU and OKLO guides.

LEU. A nuclear-fuel company like Centrus is read differently from a typical industrial: the multi-year backlog and contract structure matter more than any single quarter, because LEU revenue is lumpy and recognized as deliveries occur, so results can swing quarter to quarter. Much of the stock's value reflects future capacity and policy leverage, especially the DOE HALEU awards and the Russian-import-ban tailwind, rather than current profits, which is why the P/E sits far above its historical average. All figures are approximate as of the dates noted and refresh each quarter; verify against Centrus's investor relations page or your broker.

OKLO. Oklo cannot be valued on current earnings because it is pre-revenue; the market prices it on the size of the clean-power opportunity, its customer pipeline, and the probability of licensing, financing, and deploying reactors. Traditional P/E does not apply, and the stock is highly speculative and volatile, often moving with nuclear-theme and AI-power sentiment. All figures are approximate and should be verified against the latest filings.

Headline figures (approximate, FY2025 results and latest quarter): LEU shows revenue (fy2025) ~$448.7 million, up ~1.5% year over year; SWU revenue up ~21%, net income (fy2025) ~$77.8 million, backlog ~$3.8 billion total (to 2040), including ~$2.9 billion in the LEU segment, cash ~$2.0 billion in unrestricted cash at year-end 2025; OKLO shows stage Pre-revenue advanced-nuclear developer (no operating commercial reactors), core product Aurora powerhouse small modular fast reactor, business model Own and operate plants, sell power under long-term agreements, revenue (ttm) Minimal to none from power sales (approximate, verify).

LEU and OKLO are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined LEU and OKLO exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.