LEU Enrichment Scale-Up: A Win for U.S. Energy Independence?

Centrus Energy LEU has officially begun industrial-scale centrifuge manufacturing to support commercial Low-Enriched Uranium enrichment activities at its Piketon, OH, facility. This marks a pivotal milestone in the American nuclear fuel supply chain, which has lacked domestically owned large-scale enrichment capability for more than a decade.

The last U.S.-owned, large-scale uranium enrichment plant was constructed in the 1950s but shut down in 2013, leaving the United States heavily reliant on foreign, state-owned enterprises that dominate global enrichment capacity. With imports of Russian enriched uranium banned starting in 2028, Centrus Energy’s endeavors address the urgent and growing need for secure, U.S.-owned enrichment capacity.

Centrus Energy is strategically moving ahead to expand its uranium enrichment plant in Piketon to support the production of both Low-Enriched Uranium and High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU). The company is already a leading contender for funding from the Department of Energy, with potential task orders indicated at approximately $900 million each.

Centrus Energy raised $1.2 billion via convertible note transactions in November 2024 and August 2025 and recently launched a $1 billion at-the-market offering.  The company also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (“KHNP”) and POSCO International, a subsidiary of POSCO PKX, attracting foreign investment. 

Beyond capital support, the collaboration with KHNP and POSCO creates strategic opportunities, such as additional supply agreements for Low-Enriched Uranium and HALEU. Notably, POSCO International is also advancing a next-generation High-Temperature Gas Reactor powered by HALEU.
Centrus Energy already has $2.3 billion in contracts in place from both domestic and international customers to support new U.S. uranium enrichment capacity.  These agreements are, however, contingent upon it achieving key milestones toward building the new capacity. 

LEU’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

Centrus Energy shares have soared 272.9% in a year compared with the industry’s 49% growth.

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Meanwhile, peer Energy Fuels UUUU has gained 195% in a year. Lakewood, CO-based Energy Fuels owns and operates several conventional and in-situ uranium projects in the western US, as well as the White Mesa Mill, which is the only operating conventional uranium mill in the United States. 

LEU is trading at a forward 12-month price/sales multiple of 9.25X, a significant premium to the industry’s 4.11X. Energy Fuels is trading higher at 40.01X.

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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Centrus Energy’s 2025 earnings is pegged at $4.66 per share, indicating 4.25% year-over-year growth. The same for 2026 is $3.85, indicating a decline of 17.2%. Here is how the EPS estimates for 2025 and 2026 have been revised over the past 60 days.

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The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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