Dive Brief:
- BWX Technologies, a key supplier of nuclear fuel, equipment and services for civilian and government customers, on Monday reported a 6% increase in both revenue and operating income in Q1 2024.
- Higher naval nuclear component and microreactor production lifted the Virginia company’s government-source revenues, while commercial nuclear field services and medical isotope sales boosted commercial revenues, the company said.
- In a webcast following the release, BWXT President and CEO Rex D. Geveden provided more details on the company’s recently announced plans to expand its Cambridge, Ontario manufacturing facility, which produces commercial reactor components. The planned expansion “highlights the robust growth opportunities we see in commercial nuclear power as our customers seek to extend the life of existing power generation capacity and add new capacity with clean baseload power,” Geveden said.
Dive Insight:
BWXT reported net income of $68.5 million on $604 million in total first-quarter revenue, the company said. It reaffirmed previous full-year 2024 guidance for at least $2.6 billion in revenue and about $500 million in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, up from revenue of $2.5 billion and EBITDA of $472 million in 2023.
Geveden and BWXT Chief Financial Officer Robb LeMasters characterized BWXT’s first-quarter financial performance as strong despite uncertainty over federal defense funding. Q1 2024 was the first time BWXT had positive free cash flow during a first quarter since becoming an independent company in 2015, LeMasters said on the webcast.
BWXT’s government operations benefited from microreactor and “special materials” sales as well as a federal award for a BWXT joint venture involved in a 10-year cleanup project at the Hanford nuclear site in Washington State, the company said in its earnings presentation. That project could be worth up to $45 billion, DOE said in February.
BWXT’s commercial operations saw double-digit revenue growth from its medical isotopes division, driven by diagnostic products. Also notable was Ontario Power Generation’s announcement of “long-term life extensions” at its Pickering nuclear plant and “continued interest in advanced reactor projects,” the company said.
Geveden expressed long-term optimism about BWXT’s commercial nuclear segment on the call. OPG’s decision to extend Pickering’s life would drive revenue and “backlog growth” for years to come, he said. OPG’s Pickering decision “is what tripped us over” on the planned Cambridge facility expansion, he added. BWXT is also supplying components for refurbishments at OPG’s Darlington and Bruce nuclear plants.
Geveden also pointed to news last month that GE Vernova had selected BWXT as its first qualified supply chain company for the BWRX-300 small modular reactor designed by its nuclear business, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy.
BWXT’s planned Cambridge facility expansion, which is expected to be complete by mid-2026, will expand by 50% the company’s production capacity for large nuclear components, BWXT said in April. The company expects to receive “firm” SMR orders in the next few months, additional demand from the Tennessee Valley Authority and possibly international customers to follow, Geveden said. TVA is an investor in GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s BWRX-300 SMR and plans to site one at its Clinch River site in Tennessee.
BWXT is aiming to “get ahead of demand we know is precipitating in this market” for SMRs and CANDU reactors, he said.
