Cameco up 11% on better-than-expected revenues

Canadian uranium giant, Cameco (NYSE:CCJ), traded higher after announcing net earnings of $142 million or 36 cents per share in Q3 due to higher uranium sales and currency advantages.

Cameco traded up 11% to $8.29 a share on the NYSE as of 3:15 EST. It’s 52-week range is $7.41 to $13.91.

Cameco’s revenues were $670M, which was above a consensus estimates averaging $635M, said Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Rob Chang in research note. Sales volume was 35% higher. The company cautioned that the timing of uranium deliveries, which are driven by customer requests, can vary significantly.

The company’s capex was lowered to $245M, down from $275M guided previously said Chang.

Cameco called the current uranium market “anemic” noting that five years after Fukushima the uranium spot price is down 70% and term price is down 45%.

“New reactor startups continued to be a bright spot, with four more reactors—two in China, one in India, one in Russia—added to the grid, bringing the 2016 total to nine,” wrote the company in a news release.

“However, the generally anemic sentiment in the nuclear space was unchanged amid continued uncertainty around the path for restarting reactors in Japan, and economic pressure on nuclear operators in the United States. Despite the prolonged stress on near-term demand, there have been very few adjustments to primary supply, softening market conditions to where they are today.”