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‘We will ensure Candu is a viable technology for the different provinces to choose from going forward’ said Tim Hodgson
By Stephanie Hughes and Mathieu Dion
The policy document includes a commitment to modernizing the design of Candu reactor technology, which the Canadian government owns and to which AtkinsRealis is the exclusive licensee. Photo by James MacDonald/Bloomberg
AtkinsRealis Group Inc. extended a rally on Monday after the Canadian government announced plans to expand its nuclear program, turning analysts more bullish on the Montreal-based infrastructure engineering firm.
Shares closed up 6.4 per cent Friday in Toronto and gained as much as 8.8 per cent Monday to trade at $94.46, rising the most intraday since May 2025. Trading in the company’s call options was five times the average.
The Canadian government is aiming to enable construction of as many as 10 large-scale nuclear reactors in the country, Energy Minister Tim Hodgson said Monday. The strategy was reported earlier in the day by the Globe and Mail newspaper.
The policy document includes a commitment to modernizing the design of Candu reactor technology, which the Canadian government owns and to which AtkinsRealis is the exclusive licensee. Canada hopes to win at least four new international Candu markets by 2040, and also proposes doubling uranium exports from 2024 to 2035.
“It’s important that the Canadian government support Candu technology — it’s important domestically and it’s important internationally,” AtkinsRealis chief executive Ian L. Edwards said. As for the decision to build new reactors, he acknowledged that provinces choose the technology used.
“We will ensure Candu is a viable technology for the different provinces to choose from going forward,” Hodgson told reporters.
‘Directionally Positive’
The rise in AtkinsRealis shares Monday is fully related to the government’s announcement, National Bank Capital Markets analyst Maxim Sytchev wrote in an email. “The potential revenue generation is highly material, so any re-confirmation of Candu-related upside is directionally positive,” he said.
Stifel Nicolaus Canada Inc. analyst Ian Gillies calculated that AtkinsRealis’ nuclear business is being valued at 13.8 times enterprise value to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, based on 2027 estimates. As a result, he and his team don’t see the upside of further nuclear contracts being fully priced in, given that United States nuclear-focused peers trade at 29.4 times.
In a note prior to the official announcement, RBC Dominion Securities Inc. analyst Sabahat Khan wrote that Aecon Group Inc. and ATS Corp. may also benefit from Candu buildouts “given their positioning/expertise with the reactor technology.”
Aecon rose as much as 5.8 per cent in Toronto, while ATS rose as much as two per cent.
—With assistance from Brian Platt.
Bloomberg.com
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