IX-Energy sold 44.3 million Class A shares at $23 each, above the trading range of $16–$19, and began trading on Nasdaq under the ticker XE on April 24. The company has $1.8 billion in pre-private equity capital, a $500 million Series C-1 led by Amazon, and a binding commitment from Amazon to buy up to 5 gigawatts of nuclear power by 2039.
IX-PowersThe Rockville, Maryland-based small reactor developer backed by Amazon has raised $1.02 billion in its initial public offering on April 23, 2026, pricing its proposed offering at $23 per share, 21% above the market’s high price range of $16 to $19.
The company sold 44.3 million Class A shares and began trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker XE on April 24.
The IPO is the largest public market launch by an advanced nuclear company to date and comes at a time when the demand for electricity in AI data centers, renewables, and electrification has made reliable, carbon-free renewable energy one of the most pressing commercial infrastructure issues in the United States.
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The price tells its own story. IX-Energy presented a road show to investors with a target range of $16 to $19, which means a total of $814 million.
The closing price of $23 represents a 21% premium over that range and total proceeds of $1.02 billion, a figure that required an increased offering, with more shares sold than originally planned. ARK Investment Management, Cathie Wood’s theme fund, has expressed interest in buying up to $105 million worth of shares at the IPO price.
Oversubscriptions and prices above the range reflect investor confidence in nuclear renewables, which has been gaining momentum since major technology companies began entering into long-term nuclear power purchase agreements.
Amazon’s role in the X-Energy story is central. The company led X-Energy’s $500 billion Series C-1 round and pledged to buy up to 5 gigawatts of nuclear power from the company by 2039, a commitment that serves as a revenue anchor and a confirmation signal for the underlying technology.
For context, 5 gigawatts is about the output of the five largest conventional nuclear power plants, or roughly equal to the electricity demand of the average American city.
Amazon’s nuclear bet is driven by AI calculations: its data centers require a large, predictable amount of electricity from renewable sources, storage that is not available, which cannot provide all the time.
Nuclear power, especially the small reactors built by X-Energy, provide carbon-free baseload production in a physically compact environment.
X-Energy’s core technology is the Xe-100, a thin bed reactor design that the company has been developing since it was founded in 2009 by Kamal Ghaffarian. Xe-100 is designed to produce about 80 megawatts of thermal power per unit, with four units typically operated together as a 320 MW plant.
The bedrock design uses ranium-coated fuel spheres instead of conventional fuel rods, which the company says provides natural safety features: reactions slow down naturally when the reactor gets too hot, without requiring active cooling interventions.
The NRC participated in the pre-bid review of the Xe-100 design. IX-Energy also produces high-quality nuclear fuel, a direct integrated energy that reduces supply chain dependencies.
The IPO raises more than $1.8 billion in private capital, according to PitchBook, in multiple rounds that include strategic investors alongside Amazon.
Founder and chairman Kamal Ghaffarian retains control of 61% of the combined company’s Class B shares, giving him voting control over the public float. Ares Management Corp is the major shareholder.
The proceeds of the IPO will be used to accelerate reactor development, increase fuel production capacity, and fund sales of Xe-100 to begin its first shipment, which X-Energy has targeted for the early 2030s.
The broader context is the most important factor. IX-Energy’s IPO is not an isolated event. Microsoft has agreed to restart Unit 1 of Three Mile Island with Constellation Energy to supply its data centers. Google has signed agreements with Kairos Power for SMR capacity.
Meta and Oracle have also made nuclear power commitments. The pattern is not changing: hyperscalers with rapidly growing AI computing footprints are making long-term, utility-scale power purchase agreements with nuclear developers because no other technology can reliably deliver carbon-free baseload electricity at the scale and predictability that AI infrastructure requires.
Vikram Bagri, an analyst who published a client note on April 17, said the IPO launch “suggests continued interest among investors in small reactors,”that is, in the first evidence of $ 1.02 billion more than the grade, something less.
