Earnings rose at BWX Technologies (BWXT), Lynchburg, Va., in the first quarter, which the Department of Energy contractor attributed to opportunities in nuclear manufacturing and the company’s recent acquisition.
Net earnings for the first quarter ended March 31 were $91.2 million, or $0.99 a share, up from $75.5 million, or $0.82 a share, in the year-ago quarter. Quarterly revenue was $860.2 million, up year-over-year from $682.3 million.
Quarterly segment operating income for government operations was $99.1 million, up from $97.7 million a year ago, which the company attributed to “higher special materials processing revenue” and “naval reactors growth” in its earnings release. Segment revenue was $577.9 million, up from $555.3 million in the year-ago period. The government operations segment handles reactors for powering nuclear submarines.
Last month, BWXT said it signed a deal to acquire Precision Components Group (PCG) and two of its subsidiaries. The deal will be closed in the latter half of 2026, and PCG will continue to supply parts and services for Electric Boat, Bechtel Plant Machinery and other U.S. Navy programs.
Rex Geveden, president and CEO of BWXT, said on a Monday call with Wall Street analysts that BWXT was also in “close engagement” with the Army on the Janus program, the new nuclear reactor program to deploy microreactors at military bases. He also cited the company’s current attempt to obtain a uranium enrichment license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to support it building the Domestic Uranium Enrichment Centrifuge Experiment pilot plant in Tennessee.
“Investment in global nuclear markets is accelerating and demand for BWXT’s innovative nuclear solutions is growing rapidly,” Geveden said in the press release. “As highlighted by the recent announcement of the PCG acquisition, BWXT’s first step in establishing U.S.-based commercial nuclear manufacturing capacity, we are committed to strategically deploying capital, both organically and inorganically, to bolster our industrial scale to meet the needs of these exciting markets and drive value creation for our shareholders.”
BWXT is involved in major joint ventures across the DOE weapons complex, and is lead partner on liquid waste management contracts at the Hanford Site in Washington state and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. BWXT’s fuel and reactors power the U.S. Navy’s Ohio-, Virginia-, and Columbia-class submarines, all of which will carry warheads developed by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).
BWXT also has a virtual monopoly on the naval-nuclear reactors used in U.S. naval warships and submarines, including the Virginia-class submarines that will be sold to Australia as part of the trilateral AUKUS deal among Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. BWXT acquired 97 acres of land in Oak Ridge, Tenn. in May after it was announced that the company would likely be awarded a sole source contract for a Domestic Uranium Enrichment Pilot Plant.