Centrus begins commercial HALEU sales as revenue falls 26% and contingent fuel orders reach $5.4 billion

Centrus Energy▼−2.38% — Centrus Energy, down 2.38 percent today (NYSE: LEU) told investors on November 5 that its 16-centrifuge cascade in Piketon, Ohio, is now enriching high-assay low-enriched uranium, or HALEU, the fuel for coming small reactors, for commercial buyers rather than the Department of Energy ¹². The rights to sell that output were granted by DOE, and a longer-term arrangement for the machines is still being negotiated. ¹²

Customers commit $5.4 billion, contingent on milestones

The order book grew anyway. Contingent pledges to buy low-enriched uranium (LEU), the fuel today's reactors run on, and HALEU rose to $5.4 billion from $3 billion, inside a $7.0 billion backlog running to 2040. $5.1 billion sits under definitive agreements, though Centrus says such pledges tend to hinge on hitting operational milestones. Oklo▼−4.83% — Oklo, down 4.83 percent today, the advanced-reactor developer, signed its piece on November 12: multi-year HALEU contracts↗, prepaid in part with Meta's▲+2.23% — Meta, up 2.23 percent today advance payment for Oklo power, enough fuel for up to five Aurora reactors with deliveries from 2029. ¹³⁴

The quarter shrank while the government buyer stepped back

The quarter underneath was weak. Revenue fell 26% to $55.5 million↗, the gross loss widened to $10.6 million from $4.3 million, and the adjusted loss of 46 cents a share missed the 13-cent consensus loss; the headline $31.6 million profit came from a $46.4 million noncash warrant gain. ¹⁵ Revenue from DOE's HALEU operating contract fell $10.2 million, the proposed fiscal 2027 DOE budget funds no further cascade work, DOE says it does not currently intend to exercise further options, and about $0.8 billion of backlog hangs on that contract. ¹

Customers and shareholders now carry the build: about $2.2 billion of cash, a September raise of roughly $500 million whose warrants could add $2 billion at $227 to $363 a share, against $350 million to $500 million of guided 2026 capital spending. ¹²

One centrifuge has shipped; 11,519 have not

Only one new centrifuge exists: it left Oak Ridge, Tennessee on October 29, with 11,519 to go and first new capacity due in 2029. ⁶ In the September quarter, capital spending of $132 million passed quarterly revenue, the first time in at least nine quarters. ⁷

December 7 must price the 11,519-machine wait

Management calls the miss timing. Chief Executive Amir Vexler described "a typical quarter-over-quarter shift in contractual mix↗"; all critical suppliers are signed, milestones landed two months early, the $116 million Westerman buy of a casing maker closed after the quarter, and most of the LEU backlog serves reactors already running. ¹²⁸

Washington paid to prove the centrifuge; startup prepayments, some of it Meta's money, now pay for the factory. The December 7 investor day at Piketon prices that handoff: updated capital guidance, a durable DOE arrangement, and how fast 11,519 machines follow the first. ²⁶