X-Energy (XE.O), opens new tab shares surged 30.9% in their Nasdaq debut, fetching the company a valuation of $11.9 billion and signaling strong interest in the developers of carbon-free energy that has ​the potential to fuel the unprecedented boom in artificial intelligence.

The Amazon-backed nuclear reactor developer raised $1.02 billion in its ‌initial public offering on Thursday by selling 44.3 million shares in its upsized offering at $23 apiece, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.

The stock opened at $30.11.

The listing marks a critical capital milestone for X-Energy as it races to deploy its "Xe-100" small modular reactors (SMRs), which are viewed by industry analysts as a vital solution for the first commercial ​SMR electrons to hit the U.S. grid by the end of the decade.

The X-Energy debut is supported by notable tailwinds ​in the power sector, as tech giants and data center developers pivot toward advanced nuclear energy to ⁠power energy-intensive artificial intelligence infrastructure as well as meet 24/7 carbon-free energy goals.

Nuclear reactor developers can offer reliability that solar and ​wind - hampered by intermittency - cannot yet match.

X-Energy Chief Executive Clay Sell said being a public company afforded it a number of benefits, ​including transparency with its customers and investors, equity to reward employees, and the ability to invest in and support its supply chain as it builds up its business in the coming years.

"We wanted to take this opportunity to build a larger balance sheet that allows us to reduce the risk of ​getting to scale."

News.Az 

By Faig Mahmudov