We recently published 10 Stocks Already Hurting in December. NuScale Power Corporation (NYSE:SMR) is one of the top performers on Monday.

NuScale Power declined for a second day on Monday, shedding 9.60 percent to close at $18.08 apiece, with sentiment dampened by an overall market sell-off following the recent holiday boost.

Additionally, investors went in a wait-and-see mode amid the lack of fresh catalysts to fuel buying appetite.

NuScale Power Corporation (NYSE:SMR) is engaged in providing small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear technologies to customers. In the third quarter of the year, the company booked $8.2 million in revenues, a marked jump from only $500,000 in the same period last year, primarily driven by higher fees from services provided in relation to the RoPower project.

Despite market optimism for energy companies amid the AI boom, NuScale Power Corporation (NYSE:SMR) earned a “sell” recommendation from investment firm Citigroup, with a price target of $37.50, amid a flurry of negative catalysts, including Fluor Corp.’s sale of its own interest and cutthroat competition, among others. The price target, however, marks a 107.4 percent upside potential from its latest closing price.

According to Citi, NuScale Power Corp.’s (NYSE:SMR) current valuation reflects the latter’s capability to build around 16 GW of reactors by 2040, despite total installation in the US expected at only 56 GW.

This means that optimism for such level of market share appears “too high,” especially as NuScale Power Corp. (NYSE:SMR) is yet to have any confirmed customer.

While we acknowledge the potential of SMR as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.