Nuclear: it’s moving much faster than expected in the U.S.

The U.S. government announced yesterday a strategic partnership with Westinghouse that is both an expression of Trump’s will to provide the U.S. with the energy needed to fuel its ambitions in AI and reshoring and a sign of the relatively new and unexpected comeback of state capitalism since Donald Trump’s reelection (U.S. Steel, MP Materials, Trilogy Minerals…).

Let’s summarize the deal. Westinghouse, a historical player in the U.S. nuclear sector, was acquired in 2023 by Brookfield AM (51%) and uranium miner-refiner Cameco (49%) for a mere $8.2Bn (a fantastic acquisition, it appears). Yesterday, a deal was signed between Westinghouse’s owners and the U.S. government to build new nuclear reactors in the U.S. (analysts estimate roughly 10 AP1000-class reactors) for $80Bn. Very few details have been revealed, but it appears that the U.S. government would finance the construction of the reactors, streamline regulation and provide political and diplomatic support to achieve the deal’s objectives, while obtaining a participation in Westinghouse (a very Trump-style state-capitalism deal, see below).

Indeed, the U.S. government will: (1) receive a participation interest which, once vested, will entitle it to 20% of any cash distributions exceeding $17.5Bn made by Westinghouse after the grant ; and (2) be entitled to convert that participation interest into a warrant to purchase shares in a Westinghouse IPO equal to 20% of the company’s public value at that time, provided its market cap exceeds $30Bn.

This move dovetails with the May 2025 executive orders aimed at a “total and complete” reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), faster licensing, and stronger domestic nuclear-fuel production. The administration’s target is unambiguous: quadruple U.S. nuclear capacity by 2050 to meet the structural surge in demand from AI/data centers and reshoring. The program also aims to onshore the nuclear-fuel supply chain and strengthen U.S. energy security.

Our conviction here is longstanding. Within the AMC Active Energy, we have included Cameco, as well as other nuclear players, in the portfolio. We view this partnership as a clear catalyst accelerating the nuclear cycle: moving from executive-orders intent to industrial execution. It increases visibility on reactors and services capex and supports regulated utilities, grid-equipment suppliers, and the fuel cycle. On the announcement, Cameco’s stock rose by +23.4% yesterday. 

Nvidia is guiding to $500bn of revenue by year-end 2026 vs. Wall Street at $400bnn

During its conference yesterday, Nvidia made a series of announcements:

• Nvidia expects $500bn of revenue over the next six quarters, to be compared with a c. $400Bn consensus over the same period, pointing to a 25% upside. Nvidia has historically never guided that far out and usually limits itself to one quarter, what suggest better visibility in the mid-term.

• Sovereign compute: Nvidia announced a partnership with U.S. national laboratories, involving hundreds of thousands of chips, to accelerate U.S. research capacity. The “AI sovereignty” trend – countries and blocs wanting domestic/controlled compute – is clearly accelerating across all continents, and we believe Nvidia will continue to be a prime beneficiary.

• Robotaxis: Nvidia announced a partnership to build a robotaxi platform with Uber. Nvidia is therefore moving directly into competition with Waymo (Alphabet) and Tesla. The company is projecting deployment of 100k vehicles by 2027. Between this, Tesla, and Waymo, it points to a very strong increase of autonomous driving in the U.S. starting next year, a positive for AI monetization.