Oklo Inc. (OKLO) shares climbed 4% in premarket trading after the nuclear startup achieved two long-awaited milestones: its Texas test reactor reached criticality, and the company reported its first-ever quarterly revenue. The reactor breakthrough, confirmed by the Department of Energy on August 6, came less than a year after groundbreaking, while the August 7 earnings release showed $1.2 million in revenue — well above the $91,000 analysts expected — but also a net loss of $48.5 million, far wider than the consensus loss of $0.16–$0.17 per share.
Criticality means the reactor is now sustaining a nuclear chain reaction, a pivotal technical validation. CEO Jacob DeWitte called the timeline “an incredible milestone.” The DOE supported the project through a pilot program designed to fast-track small modular reactor designs, drawing interest from tech firms seeking clean power for AI data centers.
Oklo’s Q2 2026 financials revealed that operating expenses ballooned to $74.4 million from $28.0 million a year ago, driving the loss wider. Still, the stock rose because much of that spending was on project execution rather than impairments, and the company now has a revenue baseline — however small — enabling more concrete financial modeling. Analysts’ 12-month price targets range from $14 to $140, with an average of $86.95, implying significant upside from the $44.05 premarket level, though the stock sits at the very bottom of its 52-week range.
Investors are watching regulatory progress closely, with NRC approval of the Principal Design Criteria for the Aurora reactor and PJM interconnection filings for the Ohio campus being the next major catalysts. While the earnings miss was material, the market appeared to reward the operational strides and the demonstration of a working reactor.
