Nuclear Reactors on the Moon? Why BWX Technologies Is Soaring

Key Points

• In 2025, BWX Technologies has been an under-the-radar stock in the nuclear energy industry.
• The stock has provided an impressive return this year, boosted by its latest earnings and fascinating statements made by a NASA leader.
• According to Sean Duffy, NASA wants to put a nuclear reactor on the Moon. BWX's relationship with the space agency suggests it could be in line for such a deal.

Nuclear energy stocks have been all the rage recently. Demonstrating this is the return of the VanEck Uranium and Nuclear ETF NYSEARCA: NLR. As of the Aug. 12 close, NLR has provided a total return of 65% over the past 52 weeks and 128% over the past three years.

Regarding individual nuclear stocks, most of the headlines have revolved around leaders like Constellation Energy NASDAQ: CEG and low-to-no revenue names like NuScale Power NYSE: SMR. However, one stock hasn’t gotten the fanfare it deserves until now. That stock is BWX Technologies NYSE: BWXT, with its 62% return in 2025.

The firm’s strong Q2 earnings report helped shares soar over 18% on Aug. 5.

However, this wasn’t the only reason for the stock’s huge gain and certainly wasn’t what got the attention of many market observers. Headlines around BWX came courtesy of Sean Duffy, the United States' Acting NASA Administrator.

He wants to put nuclear reactors on the Moon. Below, we’ll discuss the news that helped BWX shares take off and provide an outlook on the stock.

Impressive Earnings, Duffy’s Lunar Ambitions Ignite BWX Shares

On Aug. 4, BWX’s Q2 earnings came in very strong, with the firm significantly beating Wall Street expectations on sales and adjusted earnings per share. The company also increased its full-year 2025 guidance on both figures. Surely, this strong release was a significant reason the company’s stock performed very well the next day.

However, Sean Duffy’s comments added to the rally that he wants to see a nuclear reactor on the Moon’s surface by 2030. Per Space.com, Duffy wants the United States to establish a sustained human presence on the Moon.

He said, "To have a base on the Moon, we need energy." He called fission technology, a type of nuclear technology, “critically important” to that goal. Overall, he stated that the administration is going to move beyond studying nuclear energy on the Moon to making it a reality.

He also confirmed rumors that the government wants to put a 100-kilowatt reactor on the Moon. However, with many nuclear energy companies in the United States, why is there a particular focus on BWX regarding this news?

BWX Already Works With NASA; Investors Believe It Will Continue To

BWX works closely with the U.S. government. Its Government Operations segment, which primarily makes nuclear propulsion systems for naval ships, generated 77% of BWX’s total revenue in Q2.

However, tucked away at the bottom of the company’s description of its government business is likely what is generating significant interest around this name in light of Duffy’s comments. The company says it is “a leader in the development of advanced nuclear reactors for a variety of power and propulsion applications in the space and terrestrial domains."

It goes on to specifically list NASA as one of its customers in this area. The company also struck an $18.8 million deal with NASA in 2017.

These pieces of information indicate an existing relationship between NASA and BWX. Therefore, investors seem to believe that BWX could be a leading candidate to supply NASA with a lunar nuclear reactor.

BWX’s Outlook: Analysts See Downside, But Moon Reactors Offer Long-Term Potential

Despite this interesting news surrounding BWX, Wall Street analysts are decidedly bearish on the stock after its recent surge. The MarketBeat consensus price target on BWX is just over $142, implying a nearly 21% downside versus the stock’s Aug. 12 closing price.

Truist Financial boosted its price target from $115 to $145 after the company’s latest earnings and Duffy’s statements. However, this figure still implies a significant downside.

However, it is essential to remember that Wall Street only forecasts 12 months out. BWX’s potential opportunity in Moon reactors extends years and decades beyond this. It is possible that the market is considering this to justify the stock’s current valuation.

Duffy indicated ambitions to extend the human presence to the Moon and Mars. This could require much more than the 100-kilowatt lunar reactor the government is pursuing, potentially offering BWX a big long-term opportunity.

Still, BWX has not confirmed any Moon reactor deals. At this point, it is hard to say that Duffy’s comments add more than speculative upside to BWX shares.

However, the announcement of a new NASA-BWX deal would change this. Considering Duffy’s comments and the company’s relationship with NASA, it is not unrealistic to think that this could occur.