NuScale jumped 7% on its first reactor hardware, while a shareholder suit called its plan a farce
The Doosan contract turns NuScale's approved reactor design into its first piece of production steel, and the stock jumped 7%. A securities suit filed the same week calls the commercialization plan behind it a farce, and the November 5 earnings call decides whether this is a manufacturing story or a payment-flow story.
Vincent Jiang · 4 min read
The rally and the lawsuit broke a day apart
On October 29, 2026, NuScale Power−5.57% — NuScale Power, down 5.57 percent today (NYSE: SMR), the only small modular reactor developer whose design is certified by the U.S 1. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, signed a contract with South Korea's Doosan Enerbility to fabricate the first article, the first production unit, of the upper reactor coolant system for its 77-megawatt module at Doosan's Changwon plant 1. The stock closed up about 7%, ahead of Oklo−6.38% — Oklo, down 6.38 percent today at roughly 2% and BWX Technologies−3.75% — BWX Technologies, down 3.75 percent today at 3% 3.
Neither company disclosed the contract's value, duration or a receiving customer, and a first article is a manufacturing milestone, not a sale: no revenue reaches NuScale until a module is ordered 14. The same morning, Courthouse News reported a federal securities suit filed Wednesday by shareholder Thomas Harwood III, accusing NuScale's board and officers of misrepresenting the exclusive partnership at the heart of the business 2.
$1.9 billion of cash, bought largely with new shares
NuScale held about $1.9 billion of cash and investments at June 30, 2026, but roughly $962 million of that came from selling new stock in the second quarter alone 5. The cost shows in the share count: Class A shares plus Class B units rose to 429.7 million from 231.4 million at the end of 2023 3. Second-quarter revenue was $75,000, down from $8.1 million a year earlier 3.
Cash rebuilds on new shares, then drains as the company spends
Data
| Cash and equivalents | |
|---|---|
| Q3 '23 | $196.63M |
| Q4 '23 | $125.37M |
| Q1 '24 | $137.09M |
| Q2 '24 | $136.03M |
| Q3 '24 | $116.73M |
| Q4 '24 | $406.66M |
| Q1 '25 | $496.52M |
| Q2 '25 | $302.8M |
| Q3 '25 | $412.69M |
| Q4 '25 | $841.52M |
| Q1 '26 | $346.23M |
| Q2 '26 | $771.56M |
One partner controls every future sale, and NuScale pays it
ENTRA1 Energy would develop, finance, own and manage any plants serving the Tennessee Valley Authority, while NuScale supplies modules at a negotiated maximum sale price and ENTRA1 keeps sole discretion over whether to buy from NuScale at all 5. Under the August 2025 Partnership Milestones Agreement, NuScale has already paid ENTRA1 $507.4 million, described in filings as 15% of the total, with the last installment in the first quarter of 2026 5.
A binding power purchase agreement, which can happen before any module order, triggers a second tranche worth about $1.2 billion on the 72-module TVA scope, and a final tranche, described as half the total, waits on an actual module order 5. That arithmetic is explicit in the filings' own ratios: $507.4 million is 15% of the total, so the full schedule is about $3.4 billion, and the final tranche is half of that 5.
The next milestone payment to NuScale's partner could swallow most of its cash
- Estimate
Data
| Value | |
|---|---|
| Cash and investments, 30 Jun 2026 | $1,900M |
| Paid to ENTRA1 to date | $507.4M |
| Next tranche if TVA PPA binds (estimate) | $1,200M |
The revenue line has gone to nearly zero
Quarterly revenue ran $8.24 million in the third quarter of 2025, $1.81 million in the fourth, $0.56 million in the first quarter of 2026 and $0.08 million, about $75,000, in the second 6. Harwood's suit adds that after a November 2025 earnings call in which management conceded ENTRA1 lacked relevant experience, the stock lost roughly 70% of its value from its high 2.
Quarterly revenue has fallen from $13 million to $75,000 in six quarters
Data
| NuScale quarterly revenue | |
|---|---|
| Q1 '25 | $13.38M |
| Q2 '25 | $8.05M |
| Q3 '25 | $8.24M |
| Q4 '25 | $1.81M |
| Q1 '26 | $0.56M |
| Q2 '26 | $0.08M |
The suit gives the bear case a docket, the Doosan contract gives the bull case steel
A class action has been filed, multiple shareholder-rights firms are investigating, and NuScale has denied any wrongdoing 7. Harwood argues NuScale "bet its commercialization strategy, and hundreds of millions of dollars, on one untested, understaffed partner with zero experience in nuclear power" 2.
A NuScale spokesperson said the company does not comment on pending litigation and is focused on executing its strategy as the holder of the only NRC-approved SMR design 2. The bull case is real but narrow: Doosan has worked the manufacturing since 2019, long-lead material for 12 modules sits in production carried at $68.6 million at June 30, and the first article is the first physical proof the approved design can actually be built 13.
Verdict watch: the November 5 call
NuScale reports third-quarter results on November 5 at 5 p.m 4. EST, with the stock starting from a $5.67 close on October 28 4. The test is plain, and it could land on the call itself: whether TVA signs a binding power purchase agreement with ENTRA1, and if it does, whether NuScale discloses the roughly $1.2 billion payment that signing immediately triggers, the milestone that would consume most of the $1.9 billion cash pile before a single module is sold 35.
Wall Street's estimate of $236 million of revenue in 2028 waits on the same signature 3.
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