Holtec Nuclear Pulls $900M IPO As AI Data-Center Trade Sours

Holtec Nuclear Corporation, the small-modular-reactor arm of Camden, New Jersey-based Holtec International, has postponed its planned $900 million initial public offering, CEO Kris Singh confirmed to Bloomberg on September 17. The withdrawal comes just nine days after Holtec launched a roadshow to price 50 million Class A shares between $15 and $18 on Nasdaq and Nasdaq Texas under the ticker HNUC, a listing that would have valued the company at up to $10.2 billion.

"Perfect Storm": Nuclear Caught In The AI Downdraft

"It's like a perfect storm," Singh told the Financial Times, adding that Holtec's business "is viewed as connected to data centres...that was a big factor in market sentiment." Between September 8 and September 16, NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR) shed 25.8%, Oklo (NYSE: OKLO) dropped 17.8% and X-energy fell 23.9%, according to Foreign Policy Journal, as investors reassessed how much of the reactor rally was really an AI-compute derivative. NuScale, Oklo and Holtec have all pitched their next generation of small modular reactors as answers to hyperscalers' 20-40 GW forward electricity load.

Roadshow Was Barely Two Weeks Old

Holtec had filed its Form S-1 in mid-July and updated pricing terms just this month. J.P. Morgan, Guggenheim, Goldman Sachs, Citi and BofA led the book, with Morgan Stanley, Cantor, BMO and Oppenheimer joining. The $900M target was intended to fund the SMR-300 pressurized-water reactor, first two units of which are earmarked for the restarted Palisades plant in Michigan. Holtec's SMR-300 is designed to deliver up to 320 MW electric per unit and is one of a handful of Western designs with early customer commitments.

What Happens Next

Singh said Holtec "will continue to evaluate the timing of the offering in the future." The company retains its SEC registration and could relaunch within three to six months if nuclear sentiment stabilizes. For now, Holtec joins a growing 2026 list of AI-adjacent capital raises put on ice, following recent moves by chip-startup issuers cited by Morningstar. Our earlier coverage details how the House Ratepayer Protection Act sent Oklo up 13% and NuScale 10% just days before the AI trade rolled over, and how the $500B+ SK-NVIDIA AI-factory deal anchored the sentiment now cracking apart.

Reporting based on coverage from Bloomberg, World Nuclear News, Reuters and the Financial Times.