Shares of Oklo (OKLO 0.35%) are flying this week. Since trading halted last Friday, the nuclear power start-up's stock has surged 28.2% as of 2:33 p.m. ET. The impressive jump comes as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 both had monster weeks, rising 4.3% and 6.2%, respectively.

The company, which develops small modular reactors (SMRs), released better-than-expected first-quarter results this week as well as announcing it had hired a new key executive.

Q1 results beat targets

Oklo reported a Q1 2025 loss of $0.07 per share, handily beating Wall Street's target of $0.10 per share. It's also a massive year-over-year improvement from the $4.79 per share loss it reported in Q1 2024.

The company maintained its full-year guidance with CEO Jacob DeWitte saying he sees "strong momentum across both the industry and the political landscape" that is fueling the company's outlook.

Image source: Getty Images.

Along with maintaining guidance, the company reaffirmed it is on track to launch its first commercial SMR in late 2027 or early 2028. To that end, the company completed drilling at the site intended for its future Aurora reactor that will allow it to validate the site as safe and suitable for construction.

Oklo adds a key executive

Oklo announced this week that Pat Schweiger will serve as chief technology officer (CTO) for the company. Schweiger has more than 40 years of experience in the energy sector in engineering and leadership. DeWitte said of the appointment, "Pat's decades of experience and expertise in power engineering will be a tremendous asset to Oklo as we move toward the commercialization of our advanced nuclear technologies."

Given its leadership and intimate ties to OpenAI, I think Oklo is one of the most promising SMR stocks and is a good pick for investors with patience and a higher risk tolerance.