X-energy stormed onto the Nasdaq on Friday, raising $1.02 billion in the largest nuclear IPO ever and pricing well above its targeted range as AI data center demand reignites the entire commercial nuclear industry.
The IPO Print
- Shares offered: 44.3 million
- Price: $23 each (above the $16-19 marketed range)
- Capital raised: $1.02 billion
- Open price: $30.11 (Nasdaq, ticker XE)
- Close: $29.20 — up 27% on the day
- Book oversubscribed: more than 15x
The Amazon Connection
Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund led X-energy’s earlier Series C-1 round and has committed to purchasing up to 5 gigawatts of nuclear power from X-energy by 2039 to feed AWS data centers. X-energy also has an active deal with Dow to supply heat and power to a Texas chemical plant.
The Technology
X-energy’s Xe-100 reactors generate 80 MW each using helium gas cooling and TRISO fuel pellets — a design CEO Clay Sell defended on CNBC Friday as fundamentally safer than legacy water-cooled reactors. Rival SMR plays Oklo and NuScale Power both sold off sharply as investors rotated into the new market leader.
Why It Matters
X-energy’s debut crystalises the most important capital-markets story of 2026: nuclear has become the new clean-power trade, and AI hyperscalers — not ESG funds — are now the marginal buyer. Friday’s print also hands Amazon the strongest claim yet that its AWS roadmap can be both decarbonised and energy-secure as data-center demand explodes.
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