Key Points
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Countries need to increase energy output while reducing carbon emissions, and nuclear energy has emerged as a top power source.
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Cameco offers broad exposure to nuclear energy through uranium mining and processing, enrichment, and nuclear technology.
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Uranium Energy offers greater upside from rising uranium prices, but its unhedged strategy also increases risk.
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Countries worldwide have committed to massively expanding their nuclear energy capabilities. At COP30, over 33 nations committed to tripling global nuclear energy capacity by 2050. With strong long-term tailwinds, uranium stocks like Cameco (NYSE: CCJ) and Uranium Energy (NYSEMKT: UEC) are well positioned for the long haul.
This massive expansion of nuclear energy comes as countries grapple with growing energy needs and decarbonization goals. While renewables have expanded significantly, many forms of it only provide intermittent power, not the 24/7, reliable baseload power that data centers, warehouses, and manufacturing facilities require.
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Here’s why these two uranium stocks could be smart buy-and-hold options today.
Cameco has a massive footprint across uranium mining, processing, and conversion
Cameco is one of the world’s largest providers of uranium fuel and owns high-grade assets, including the Cigar Lake and McArthur River mines, the Key Lake mill, and the Blind River refinery. Cameco is appealing to investors because of its massive scale, long-term contracts, and investment across the nuclear value chain.
Cameco generally doesn’t sell uranium in spot markets. Instead, the company maintains contracts to sell an average of 28 million pounds of uranium annually through 2030, with more volume contracted in the next couple of years. Management is intentionally keeping volumes uncommitted in the longer term to capture the potential upside from rising prices.
The company’s operations span mining, milling, and processing (separating uranium minerals from rock to create yellowcake), refining yellowcake to remove impurities, and converting the powder into the compounds used in nuclear reactors. The company also holds a 49% stake in Global Laser Enrichment, which develops laser-based uranium enrichment technology.
In addition, Cameco owns 49% of Westinghouse Electric, one of the world’s largest nuclear hardware suppliers. Westinghouse also manufactures the AP1000 reactors used in traditional power plants and should be a major beneficiary of the nuclear energy build-out in the coming decades.
Uranium Energy offers greater exposure to rising uranium prices
While Cameco takes a more measured approach to spot uranium prices and the nuclear value chain, Uranium Energy is a U.S.-based uranium miner that offers greater upside if uranium prices rise. That’s because the company is completely unhedged. During its 2026 fiscal year (ending July 31), Uranium Energy realized what it claims is an industry-leading $93 per pound on the 400,000 pounds it sold.
Uranium Energy is pursuing a low-cost, hub-and-spoke in-situ recovery (ISR) model to restart U.S. uranium production. The hub is its centralized processing facility, where it turns uranium concentrate into yellowcake. Meanwhile, the spokes surround satellite deposits, where the company pumps a solution underground to dissolve uranium in place and then pumps the uranium-rich solution to the surface.
By leveraging ISR and hub-and-spoke infrastructure, Uranium Energy can bring new spokes online without building new mills, drying facilities, or other costly investments for uranium refining. Additionally, the company is taking steps to become a fully integrated nuclear fuel producer, like Cameco, by resolving a massive bottleneck in uranium conversion. It hopes to begin producing commercially here by the 2030s.
For aggressive investors seeking unhedged upside to spot uranium prices, Uranium Energy is a top pick. But be warned: This effect works both ways, and if uranium prices decline meaningfully, earnings would fall right alongside them.
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Courtney Carlsen has positions in Cameco. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Cameco. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
