Lightbridge Q1 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• Patent allowances were granted in the U.S., Canada and Europe, broadening protection for Lightbridge’s helically twisted/multi-lobed and multi-zone fuel designs across key markets (including CANDU reactors and 39 European contracting states).
• Development and testing advanced with INL Project Task Statement #6 to develop co‑extruded fuel rod segments (initially using depleted uranium) and ongoing ATR irradiation tests with samples expected to be removed soon, while a multi‑phase thermal‑hydraulic program with Stern Laboratories aims to generate data to support U.S. regulatory licensing.
• Financially, Lightbridge ended Q1 with about $215.7 million in cash, raised $18.6 million via its ATM program, but posted a wider net loss of $6.3 million as R&D and stock‑based compensation increased.

Lightbridge NASDAQ: LTBR used its first-quarter 2026 business update to highlight progress in intellectual property protection, fuel development and testing partnerships, and expanded internal engineering capabilities, alongside an increase in quarterly losses tied largely to higher research spending and stock-based compensation.

Patent allowances expand protection in key reactor markets

CEO Seth Grae said the company received patent allowances in three major jurisdictions during the quarter, describing the awards as protecting “distinct dimension[s]” of the Lightbridge Fuel architecture across key global reactor markets.

Grae said the Canadian Intellectual Property Office issued an allowance covering fuel assemblies that include helically twisted fuel assemblies arranged in a mixed grid pattern, which he said is “directly relevant to pressurized heavy water reactors, including Canada’s CANDU fleet.” He added that Lightbridge also secured broader Canadian claims covering mixed grid assemblies without specifying particular grid configurations.

In the United States, Grae said the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a notice of allowance covering fuel assemblies and nuclear reactors incorporating Lightbridge’s “spirally twisted multi-lobed fuel element technology,” also aimed at pressurized heavy water reactors, including CANDU-type designs. Grae said the related patent family now includes five U.S. patents.

In Europe, Grae said the European Patent Office issued a notice of allowance covering a “multi-zone fuel element design,” including variable radial zone thicknesses along the axial direction and elements produced via additive manufacturing. Grae said the allowance extends protection across 39 contracting states, including major European nuclear markets such as the U.K., France, and Germany.

Development work advances at Idaho National Laboratory and with Stern Laboratories

Andrey Mushakov, executive vice president for nuclear operations, said Lightbridge entered into “Project Task Statement number six” in April 2026 under its strategic partnership project agreement with Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The work is intended to support development of co-extruded fuel rod segments for future irradiation testing and to refine manufacturing processes and materials needed to produce rods and rodlets in their final cross-sectional configurations.

Mushakov said initial process development will use depleted uranium, with the expectation that if successful, the processes could later be applied to enriched uranium to produce fuel rod segments for irradiation experiments and test reactors, including INL’s Advanced Test Reactor (ATR). He said the scope includes fabrication and equipment enhancements, development and testing of key materials such as central displacer alloys and cladding behavior, and validation of co-extrusion techniques for both cylindrical and multi-lobe fuel designs. The work also includes preparing specimens—including those with controlled defects—to support nondestructive evaluation, calibration, and irradiation testing.

Separately, Mushakov said Lightbridge signed an initial engineering contract and statement of work in March with Stern Laboratories Inc., an employee-owned Canadian provider of specialized nuclear experimental services, to assess thermal-hydraulic performance of Lightbridge Fuel for use in light water reactors. He described the effort as a multi-phase program:

• Phase 1: Design and fabrication of an electrically heated fuel simulator, acceptance testing, and a single-rod critical heat flux investigation at steam-water conditions up to 1,450 PSI; expected to take about one year.
• Phase 2: Expansion to a 9-rod critical heat flux investigation across a 600–2,200 PSI pressure range.
• Phase 3: A multi-year thermal-hydraulic test program structured to directly support U.S. regulatory licensing for deployment in the domestic light water reactor fleet.

Mushakov said data from the Stern Labs program is expected to support demonstration of improved thermal margins and help build “the evidentiary records that the NRC will require on the path to commercial deployment.”

Irradiation testing update and research engagement

Scott Holcombe, vice president of engineering, said Lightbridge’s irradiation testing program at INL continues after fuel material coupons were inserted into the ATR in November, marking the start of in-reactor testing of the company’s uranium-zirconium alloy fuel material samples. Holcombe said testing is ongoing and that data will inform fuel performance modeling and support the regulatory licensing process.

Holcombe added that the company expects an initial batch of partially irradiated samples to be removed from the ATR “in the coming weeks,” with post-irradiation examination expected to begin later in 2026.

Holcombe also outlined research and industry engagement activities, including technical presentations at the TMS 2026 Annual Meeting and Exhibition. He said Dr. Boone Beausoleil, Lightbridge’s director of materials, presented a paper titled “Metal Fuels Opportunities Beyond Sodium Fast Reactors,” and Dr. Kyle Paaren, manager of the fuel performance modeling group, presented “Uranium-zirconium alloy properties review and applicability to Lightbridge Corporation fuel performance activities.” Holcombe said the second paper demonstrated that Lightbridge’s proprietary UZr fuel can be modeled and characterized through a “newly validated Lightbridge-specific framework” built from measured data generated from the company’s own coupon samples.

In addition, Holcombe said Lightbridge was selected to serve on the industry advisory board for a $6 million, four-year nuclear materials research project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Nuclear Energy University Program and awarded to Pennsylvania State University. He said the project—called the “Big Ten Plus Network for the Study of Nuclear Materials at the Micro Scale”—includes multiple universities and support from Idaho National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Holcombe said Lightbridge will focus on irradiation behavior of cladding materials for co-extruded fuels.

Management cites strong nuclear sector momentum

In prepared remarks, Grae pointed to broader nuclear industry tailwinds, saying nuclear power set a record for global generation in 2025 and that more than 70 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity are under construction worldwide. He also referenced U.S. executive actions aimed at accelerating reactor permitting, reforming the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s regulatory process, and rebuilding the domestic nuclear fuel supply chain.

Grae cited the Department of Energy’s UPRISE initiative as “specifically focused on power upgrades for the existing fleet,” which he called a validation of Lightbridge’s commercial pathway. He also said technology companies including Meta, Amazon, and Google have committed to long-term nuclear procurement “at gigawatt scale,” and he described increasing pressure on utilities to secure firm power for industrial growth and data centers.

Grae said Lightbridge Fuel is designed to provide “more power from the reactors that are already operating” within existing core and plant sizes “and with even greater safety.”

Cash balance rises; losses widen as spending increases

CFO Larry Goldman said Lightbridge ended the quarter with approximately $215.7 million in cash and cash equivalents as of March 31, 2026, up from $201.9 million at Dec. 31, 2025. Goldman said the cash position provides “substantial financial resources sufficient to support our operations for an extended period, well beyond the near term.”

Goldman said the company used $4.8 million in operating cash flow during the quarter, reflecting continued investment in the fuel development program and team expansion. He also said Lightbridge raised $18.6 million in net proceeds through its at-the-market equity offering program and continues to evaluate additional funding opportunities, including strategic partnerships, government grants and contracts, and potential additional capital markets activity.

Controller Lesli Mills reported a net loss of $6.3 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026, compared with a net loss of $4.8 million in the year-ago quarter. Mills said R&D expenses rose to $3.3 million from $1.7 million, primarily due to higher employee compensation and stock-based compensation associated with new hires, bonuses, and new awards, as well as increased IT expenses related to the company’s high-performance computing infrastructure.

Mills said G&A expenses increased to $4.3 million from $3.5 million, attributing the rise primarily to higher stock-based compensation along with increases in other administrative expenses such as recruiting fees and IT. She also reported other income of $1.3 million, up from $0.4 million, driven by interest income from treasury bills and higher average cash balances.

No questions were submitted for the call, and Grae closed by thanking shareholders and partners and saying the company looks forward to updating investors on progress in coming quarters.

About Lightbridge NASDAQ: LTBR

Lightbridge Corporation is a nuclear energy technology company focused on developing advanced nuclear fuel designs to enhance the safety, efficiency and economic performance of existing and new nuclear power reactors. The company's core technology centers on a patented metallic fuel system that replaces conventional uranium oxide fuel pellets with a uranium-zirconium alloy, configured in a helical rod design. This proprietary fuel form is intended to enable higher burnup rates, reduced fuel cycle costs and improved thermal conductivity, thereby addressing key challenges in the global nuclear industry.

Since its inception, Lightbridge has conducted extensive research and development in collaboration with national laboratories, regulatory agencies and reactor operators.

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