Oklo and Liberty Energy Stocks Get a Boost from ‘Strategic Alliance’ Announcement

A rendering of Oklo’s Aurora powerhouse, the first of which will be built at Idaho National Laboratory. (Business Wire)

Nuclear start-up Oklo unveiled yet another partnership on Wednesday, this time with oil services company Liberty Energy .

Under the terms of the so-called strategic alliance, Oklo and Liberty will work to accelerate the development of integrated solutions for power-hungry customers, such as data centers and industrial facilities.

Liberty will provide primary power services in the form of natural gas until Oklo’s powerhouses come online, at which point the systems will be integrated. The strategy is designed to meet clients’ immediate needs “while providing a clear path toward zero-carbon baseload power,” Oklo said.

The start-up’s association with Liberty is nothing new. Back in 2023, Liberty committed $10 million to become an early investor in Oklo. The nuclear company went public the following year after merging with a special-purpose acquisition corporation headed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Shares of both companies got a boost from the news. Oklo was up 7.4% on Wednesday, snapping a two-day losing streak. Liberty soared 20%, putting the stock on pace for its largest same-day percent increase since Sept. 1, 2020, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

If the difference seems odd, that’s because other developments were driving Liberty stock higher. Also on Wednesday, PJM Interconnection announced the results of its latest capacity auction, which revealed a need for power generation to meet escalating demand. That’s good news for energy companies like Liberty.

Other energy stocks were on the rise, too. Talen Energy, Vistra, and Constellation Energy gained 7.9%, 5.7%, and 2.5%, respectively.

Wednesday’s announcement was Oklo’s second in two days regarding partnerships. On Tuesday, the company said it was teaming up with Vertiv Holdings to co-develop systems using heat from on-site power plants to drive data-center cooling systems.

The pilot technology demonstration is planned for Oklo’s first Aurora powerhouse at Idaho National Laboratory, which is slated to start producing commercial power by the end of 2027.

Write to Mackenzie Tatananni at mackenzie.tatananni@barrons.com