ASX uranium stocks big winners as Sprott buying spree sparks massive rally

Toronto-based asset management firm Sprott has rocked the uranium market and given the stock prices of global uranium companies a major jolt after it announced it would buy US$200 million in physical uranium for its Sprott Physical Uranium Trust (SPUT).

Sprott has a history of investing in physical uranium and in global uranium miners via SPUT and its Sprott Uranium Miners ETF (URNM) trust respectively. The capital raising, underwritten by Canaccord Genuity, is offering units in SPUT at US$17.25 per unit – a premium to the trust’s Friday close of US$16.98.

Sprott's original request was to raise US$100 million, but the capital raise was substantially oversubscribed, and it chose to accept US$200 million in offers. The popularity of the capital raise indicates strong investor interest in uranium and the broader uranium narrative. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at how Sprott’s intentions could impact the uranium market, as well as the key demand and supply side factors influencing the uranium price now and into the future.

Uranium fundamentals: Demand vs supply

Despite a modest lift in global production, uranium remains structurally undersupplied as demand builds across the nuclear energy sector due to a global shift toward nuclear energy.

• Based on the latest available data, global uranium demand in 2025 is projected to be approximately 200 million pounds of U₃O₈. (Up from 165 million pounds in 2023, and expected to rise to 230 million pounds by 2030.) As of mid-2025, there are:

  • ~70 reactors under construction worldwide,
  • 100+ additional reactors in planning or approval stages,
  • Major buildouts underway in China, India, and the Middle East.

• On May 23, President Trump signed four executive orders aimed at revitalising the U.S. nuclear energy sector. These orders focus on accelerating the deployment of advanced nuclear technologies, expanding US nuclear energy exports, and reestablishing the US as a global leader in nuclear energy.

• Several major US corporates have announced strategic partnerships with nuclear energy utilities for supply of energy to power their rapidly growing data centre and AI needs:

  • Meta has entered a 20-year agreement with Constellation Energy to procure approximately 1.1 gigawatts of nuclear power.
  • Amazon Web Services (AWS) has expanded its partnership with Talen Energy to secure up to 1,920 megawatts of nuclear energy.
  • Microsoft has committed to a 20-year deal with Constellation Energy to restart the Three Mile Island Unit 1 reactor.

In this context, Sprott's planned acquisition of approximately 2.67 million pounds of U₃O₈ – equivalent to about 1.33% of the projected 2025 global demand – represents a significant purchase by a non-utility player. The impact is likely to be exacerbated by the relative illiquidity of the uranium spot market.

Uranium spot price & ASX uranium stocks impact

The impact on the spot uranium price has been substantially positive with front month uranium futures on COMEX jumping from US$69.75/lb on Friday’s close to US$75.50/lb on Monday, a gain of nearly 6%. If you’ve been following my technical analysis updates in the ChartWatch section of our Market Index Evening Wraps, you’ll know that this spike could not have come at a better time.

For background, note that my chart shows the uranium bull market ended in June last year, and I called the start of a new bear market in ChartWatch as early as 1 August. In late April this year, I noted the changing of the short term trend, and in recent updates, I proposed that until the uranium price closed above the long term trend ribbon, the risk of a protracted downtrend persisted.

By Friday, with uranium’s short term trend again turning lower (light green zone transitioning to amber), and the long term trend resuming its downtrend (dark pink zone) – uranium was in a precarious position! Good news uranium bulls, Sprott’s actions have delivered a timely boost to uranium’s technical analysis standing!

If the price can maintain above the long term trend ribbon, and assuming this trend ribbon begins to transition through neutral (amber) back to up (dark green), then it will signal the start of a new bull phase in the uranium price. That is yet to be seen, but Monday’s spike has substantially increased the possibility of this occurring.

As for ASX uranium stocks, they each experienced similarly substantial gains yesterday (the news broke before the open on the ASX and before trade on COMEX, so ASX stocks reacted in advance of the uranium futures price on this occasion). The following stocks achieved “Feature Uptrend” in today’s edition of my ChartWatch ASX Scans series where I identify each day the best uptrends and downtrends on the ASX:

Feature Uptrends are my highest conviction uptrends, but I note that each of the above stocks / ETFs have featured prior to today’s update – some of them for many weeks now. So, despite the troubles in the spot uranium price, uranium stocks were for the most part already on the move.

And yes, Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN) is conspicuous by its absence, and I continue to monitor for its change of long term trend (from down to up as the others have done). I will follow up this article tomorrow with a comprehensive technical analysis review of the major ASX uranium stocks – so stay tuned!

Conclusions – Uranium bull market is not a done deal!

Certainly, Sprott’s actions have provided a quick shot in the arm for what was immediately prior, an ailing spot uranium price. It's important to note however, that the broader uranium market is predominantly driven by long-term contracts, with the spot market accounting for only a small portion of total transactions.

The illiquidity of the spot market means that even modest purchases (or news of their impending purchases) can lead to significant price fluctuations, as we have just seen. Whether Sprott’s actions have any impact on the ‘term price’, i.e., the long term contracting price, is yet to be seen – and ultimately this will be the determining factor on the profitability of ASX uranium producers.

Sprott’s capital raise is yet another reminder of how influential the company remains in the uranium space, as well as the substantial financial appetite that exists in markets to back the nuclear energy narrative. If Sprott’s actions spur nuclear energy utilities to bring forward contract negotiations, and if there’s a growing perception among them that Sprott is going to continue to remove pounds from the market – it may lead to an increase in the term price.

So, Sprott’s move could be the trigger uranium bulls are hoping for to spark the beginning of the next leg higher in uranium prices and in uranium stocks. However, risks remain:

• If utilities continue to delay contracting / continue to contract at below replacement levels as they have for the last few years, the spot price and stocks rally could fade quickly.

• Never underestimate the supply side! Nothing is a greater enemy of higher prices than higher prices! Major players like Kazatomprom and Cameco control massive production bases and stockpiles that could be brought to market under the right conditions.

• Sprott is a buyer for now – but if market dynamics shift and it turns into a seller, the effect on prices would likely reverse.

For investors, the key is to remain focused on the underlying price action – in both uranium and in uranium stocks. Narratives alone won’t sustain gains if the fundamentals falter. But if supply tightness and global policy support persist, Sprott’s big move may just be the spark the uranium market needed.

This article first appeared on Market Index on Tuesday 17 June 2025.