Silver, gold, copper, and uranium - The stuff dreams are made of! Nel ASA, American Atomics, and Siemens Energy in focus

Nel ASA – Technological breakthrough in the hydrogen market

The initial share prices were encouraging, but after a few days, they fell again. Nel ASA from Norway has not yet been able to break out of the NOK 2.20 to 2.50 range. This is hardly surprising, given that the Norwegians are operating in a challenging market environment. Although they can rely on political support from Europe, many of the subsidy programs from Brussels are geared towards the long-term development of a hydrogen infrastructure. In order to generate share price performance for investors, the pace would have to be faster. At present, public orders are not yet sufficient to trigger a new rally in hydrogen stocks.

In terms of the balance sheet, everything is still in the green, as cash and cash equivalents of around NOK 1.76 billion were reported at the end of September. In recent quarters, however, the operating business has suffered from project delays, weak sector sentiment, and the US's tendency to move away from alternative forms of energy generation. Nevertheless, the Company can boast a new generation of pressure-based alkaline electrolysers, whose prototypes have achieved exceptionally high efficiency levels according to management. The planned production ramp-up is to take place in stages, with a market launch in 2026 and significant scaling from 2027 onwards. CEO Håkon Volldal is clearly pursuing the goal of positioning Nel as the cost leader in the electrolyser market. This is to be made possible, among other things, by a modular container concept that eliminates the need for expensive building infrastructure. Nel is thus currently caught between short-term stock market pressure and the realistic opportunity to establish itself as a key technology provider in the European hydrogen boom. Bold investors have been able to buy in at around EUR 0.19 for several days, but there have been no significant upward movements so far!

American Atomics – North America's key to new uranium independence

Nuclear energy is also favored as a carbon-zero technology in the current era of change. With the rise of artificial intelligence, global population growth, and new high-performance infrastructures, demand for nuclear energy is also growing at an unprecedented rate. While many economies are suffering from high electricity prices and supply bottlenecks, resource-rich regions such as Canada offer ideal conditions to actively shape this change.

This is precisely where American Atomics Inc. comes in, an energy company based in Vancouver that has set itself the goal of making North America an energy-independent player in the nuclear sector. The focus is on establishing independent, closed uranium supply chains, from the deposit to refining to fuel for modern reactors. The Company is thus responding to a strategic vulnerability that has arisen in recent decades due to dependencies on Russian, Kazakh, and Chinese suppliers. With its guiding principle "From Rock to Reactor," the innovative company is pursuing the establishment of a completely Western-controlled value chain for nuclear fuels. A core project is the Big Indian district in the historic Lisbon Valley (Utah), one of the most historic uranium basins in the United States. American Atomics has an option agreement there that allows for the gradual acquisition of a majority stake by 2030, coupled with specified investments in geological exploration. Additional deposits in Colorado and Ontario expand the resource base and create broader raw material security.

At the same time, the Company is continuing to expand its technological infrastructure. In cooperation with the Canadian refining company CVMR, a network for processing uranium ore is being created, which will allow a large part of the added value to remain in-house in the future. Another pillar is the collaboration with DISA Technologies, which contributes innovative processes for recovering uranium from contaminated sites. Two special features make the business model particularly sustainable. First, American Atomics is investing specifically in AI-supported exploration and process automation to evaluate deposits more efficiently and digitally monitor the value chain. Second, the Company is involved in joint research platforms for the development of HALEU (High Assay Low Enriched Uranium) fuels, which are crucial for next-generation reactor designs. With a current market capitalization of around CAD 12 million, there is still plenty of room for growth!

IIF presenter Lyndsay Malchuk interviewed co-founder Connor Lynch about American Atomics' strategic direction.

Siemens Energy – Analysts raise their price targets

The German benchmark company in energy technology is Siemens Energy, which has been an independent DAX member since its spin-off from Siemens AG in 2020. After a bumpy start, the Company fell into a deep crisis in 2024 when it had to rescue its Spanish wind power subsidiary, Siemens Gamesa. With government guarantees of over EUR 11 billion, this venture was successful and catapulted the new group to the top spot among global power plant designers and turbine suppliers. Difficult business units in India and Sri Lanka were sold to an international investor group led by TPG. Following a restructuring, the focus is now on wind, grid, and infrastructure technology, which is expected to boost group sales to over EUR 60 billion by 2030.

Looking at the fundamentals, the P/E ratio based on the last fiscal year 2024/25 is generous at 35, but the steep profit growth rates justify this factor. The estimated P/E ratio will fall to around 18 as early as 2029. Analysts have recently lagged behind the share price performance by over 150%, but have made significant adjustments to their price targets in the last week. RBC has set a target of EUR 150, JPMorgan has set a target of EUR 160 with an "Overweight" rating, and Bank of America has set a target of EUR 170. Only Barclays sees risks in economic development and votes "Equal Weight" with a moderate price target of EUR 90. Across all expert opinions, this results in an average of EUR 123.50 for LSEG, just above the current price. Flip a coin!

The transformation of the energy markets is increasingly diverging on both sides of the Atlantic, with clearly different industrial and energy policy priorities. While the US is pushing ahead with the expansion of conventional energy sources under a strongly resource-oriented agenda, thereby also strategically reevaluating nuclear technologies, a stock such as American Atomics is gaining attention as a beneficiary of this reassessment. Europe, on the other hand, is focusing more on the structural transformation of power grids, renewable capacities, and hydrogen solutions, which is benefiting companies such as Siemens Energy as an infrastructure provider and Nel ASA as a technology partner for green hydrogen.