Which Energy Stock Offers Better Value in 2026: Oklo or Bloom Energy?

The Energy Boom Reshaping Investment Landscape

The race to power artificial intelligence is fundamentally transforming the energy sector. Data center operators—led by hyperscalers like Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon—are facing an unprecedented challenge: meeting explosive power demands while navigating grid capacity constraints.

According to Goldman Sachs, data center electricity consumption in the U.S. is projected to skyrocket from 3% of total demand in 2022 to 8% by 2030. But data centers are only part of the story. The Bank of America Institute forecasts energy demand will rise by 2.5% annually over the next decade—a 5-fold acceleration compared to the previous ten years. This surge is being driven by transportation electrification, industrial expansion, and residential growth.

The infrastructure gap is equally striking: Goldman Sachs estimates the global power grid will require roughly $720 billion in upgrades by 2030 just to prevent bottlenecks. This structural deficit has created a golden opportunity for innovative energy companies.

Two Companies Riding the Wave—With Different Timelines

This year, two upstart energy firms have captured investor attention: Bloom Energy and Oklo. Their stock performances tell the story: Bloom Energy surged 285% year to date, while Oklo climbed 252%. But beneath these similar gains lie fundamentally different business models and deployment timelines.

Bloom Energy manufactures solid oxide fuel cell systems that convert natural gas, biogas, or hydrogen into on-site electricity through an electrochemical process. What sets Bloom apart is deployment speed—its servers can be operational in under 50 days, allowing data centers and industrial facilities to address power shortages quickly without waiting for grid infrastructure upgrades. The company can operate these systems independently, eliminating grid dependence entirely.

Recent partnership announcements underscore its commercial traction. In July, Bloom inked a deal with Oracle to supply fuel cell technology for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure data centers. By October, a strategic partnership with Brookfield Asset Management—valued at up to $5 billion—will deploy Bloom’s systems across Brookfield’s global AI data center portfolio.

Oklo, by contrast, is developing advanced fission powerhouses called Aurora units using metal-fueled fast-reactor technology. These next-generation plants are designed to operate independently for over a decade before refueling, and can utilize recycled nuclear fuel. In theory, they solve the grid connection bottleneck by providing decentralized, long-duration power. The catch? Oklo has no commercially operating facilities today. The company is pursuing Nuclear Regulatory Commission certifications and doesn’t expect its first commercial powerhouse to come online until 2027 or 2028 at the earliest.

The Investment Verdict

Oklo’s technology represents genuine innovation and addresses a critical future need. However, investors buying today are essentially funding multi-year R&D and regulatory processes with no revenue generation in sight. The stock remains vulnerable to volatility, technical setbacks, and shifting regulatory winds.

Bloom Energy presents a different risk profile. Yes, its valuation is steep—trading at 87.5 times next year’s projected earnings and 34.5 times estimated 2027 earnings. But revenue visibility is concrete: analysts expect $1.9 billion in revenue this year with 30% growth projected to reach nearly $2.5 billion next year. The company has paying customers today and a repeatable deployment model.

For investors entering 2026, Bloom Energy emerges as the more prudent choice. While Oklo’s Aurora powerhouses may eventually become industry-defining, they remain a longer-term bet. Bloom offers tangible near-term upside with commercial momentum already underway—making it the better energy stock to own as the year unfolds.