Centrus Energy - Earnings Call - Q2 2025
August 6, 2025
Executive Summary
- Q2 2025 delivered revenue of $154.5M and diluted EPS of $1.59, with gross margin at 35% (up from 19% YoY). Results strongly beat Wall Street consensus on revenue ($130.6M*) and EPS ($0.81*), and EBITDA ($18.2M*), driven by favorable contract mix and lower SWU unit costs.
- LEU segment gross profit rose to $50.7M on $125.7M revenue; Technical Solutions revenue increased to $28.8M, and Phase 2 HALEU delivery (900 kg) was completed; DOE exercised Phase 3 Option 1a through 6/30/2026 (≈$110M).
- Liquidity strengthened: cash rose to $833.0M; ~$114.0M net ATM proceeds in the quarter; backlog stands at $3.6B (LEU ~$2.7B; Technical Solutions ~$0.9B) extending to 2040.
- Stock-relevant catalysts: confirmed HALEU milestone, DOE Option 1a exercise, continued gross margin expansion, and large, multi-year backlog; near-term narrative still tied to impending DOE task orders/funding allocation and public-private financing progress.
What Went Well and What Went Wrong
What Went Well
- Gross margin expansion to ~35% (from ~19% YoY) on improved contractual mix and lower unit costs; gross profit rose to $53.9M despite lower revenue.
- Operational milestones: delivered 900 kg HALEU, transitioning into Phase 3 (Option 1a) with defined targets and an extension to 6/30/2026; “Centrus is proud to offer a publicly-traded, American source of enrichment”.
- Balance sheet strength: cash $833.0M and ~$114.0M net ATM proceeds this quarter; management emphasized maximizing investment income and maintaining flexibility ahead of DOE decisions.
Management quotes:
- “Centrus delivered another strong quarter of revenue and margins while successfully continuing our preparations ahead of our future enrichment build-out.” — CEO Amir Vexler.
- “Gross margin improved to 35%, up from 19% in the prior year’s quarter.” — CFO Kevin Harrill.
- “There is a strong consensus...that an additional enricher is required to bring new supply and new competition to the U.S. market.” — CEO Amir Vexler.
What Went Wrong
- Total revenue declined 18% YoY (to $154.5M) as LEU volumes fell: SWU volumes -27% and no uranium sales in Q2; LEU revenue down 26% YoY (to $125.7M).
- Technical Solutions gross profit dipped slightly (-$0.3M YoY) as Phase 2 extended portions remained undefinitized (no fee yet), pressuring segment margins.
- Continued geopolitical/trade risks around Russian LEU waivers and export licensing persist; management noted ongoing uncertainty despite current operations not being significantly impacted.
Transcript
Speaker 5
Greetings and welcome to the Centrus Energy Corp. second quarter 2025 earnings call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press Star 0 on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I'd now like to turn the call over to your host, Mr. Neal Nagarajan, Head of Investor Relations for Centrus Energy Corp. Thank you. You may begin.
Speaker 0
Good morning.
Speaker 1
Thank you all for joining us. Today's call will cover the results for the second quarter 2025 ended June 30. Today we have Amir Vexler, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Kevin Harrell, Chief Financial Officer. Before turning the call over to Amir, I'd like to welcome all of our callers as well as those listening to our webcast. This conference call follows our earnings news release issued yesterday. We expect to file a report for the second quarter on Form 10-Q later today. All of our news releases and SEC filings, including our 10-K, 10-Qs, and 8-Ks, are available on our website. A replay of this call will also be available later this morning on the Centrus Energy website.
I would like to remind everyone that certain information we may discuss on this call today may be considered forward-looking information and involve risk and uncertainty, including assumptions around the future performance of Centrus. Our actual results may differ materially from those in our forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to materially differ from those in our forward-looking statements is contained in our filings with the SEC, including our annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Finally, the forward-looking information provided today is time sensitive and accurate only as of today, August 6, 2025. Unless otherwise noted, this call is the property of Centrus Energy. Any transcription, redistribution, retransmission, or rebroadcast of the call in any form without the express written consent of Centrus is strictly prohibited. Thank you for your participation. Now I'll turn the call over to Amir.
Speaker 0
Thank you, Neal. And thank you to everyone on the call today, both longtime listeners and a growing number of those joining us. For the first time in the second quarter, we again witnessed the continued rapid growth of the nuclear industry driven by both government actions and private industry investments, providing us with great confidence in the mounting and lasting need for nuclear fuel in both the United States as well as abroad. Simply put, on the road to energy dominance, nuclear energy is being unleashed and the critical fuel required to power this growth is at the center of this nuclear renaissance, both the existing market for the commercial LEU and the future market for commercial HALEU continue to expand at robust rates backed by public actions and an increase in private financing sources.
Similarly, we are witnessing a potentially significant expansion in our already large national security addressable market with the growing number of announcements around potential micro and small modular reactor deployments on DoD sites. These military reactors would likely require the use of U.S. origin enrichment technology, for which Centrus is the only commercially ready technology that can meet these demands at a macro level. Through the turmoil and uncertainty in the global trade environment, we continue to receive shipments of enriched uranium and our operations have not been significantly impacted by macroeconomic events. Furthermore, as a reminder to our listeners, as we look to expanding our enrichment capacity, we manufacture our centrifuges in the United States by relying upon a secure, growing domestic manufacturing supply chain.
Turning to our results, as many of you know, there can be a significant amount of variability quarter to quarter due to the nature of our business. Customers in the LEU segment, which currently generate the majority of our revenue, generally have multi-year contracts to take delivery of a given quantity at a given price each year. These customers choose when to take delivery within the year and do not always choose the same quarter every year. Revenues and margins fluctuate depending on how many deliveries happen to fall into a particular quarter and whether those deliveries come from higher-priced or lower-priced contracts. As such, we believe our annual results are more indicative of our progress. We again achieved robust financial results in the second quarter, including $154.5 million in revenue, a gross profit of $53.9 million, and an operating income of $33.5 million.
Kevin will discuss the results and their respective drivers in more depth in a few minutes. We are currently awaiting the U.S. Department of Energy's decision on how they plan to allocate the $3.4 billion appropriated to jumpstart domestic nuclear fuel production and how the awards will be structured. Given the Administration's urgency and focus on energy dominance, we remain optimistic that a decision will be made soon consistent with this agenda. We believe that the only way to achieve nuclear energy dominance is to have a fully American technology and supply chain. We remain confident in our compelling investment case as the only publicly traded proven enricher that can meet commercial and national security needs, thereby maximizing the government's return on its investment. Our goal is to secure sufficient public and private capital to expand our enrichment capacity. As we await the U.S.
Department of Energy's decision, we continue to pursue our readiness initiatives to strengthen our investment case. First, we again grew our cash balance, ending the quarter with a healthy $833 million cash balance on our balance sheet. As we have previously noted, we will continue to look for ways to optimize our capital structure and strengthen our position ahead of government funding announcements to put Centrus in the best possible position once funding decisions have been made. Second, as announced in late November 2024, we launched a $60 million investment in our supply chain using Centrus funds to lay the groundwork for the future large-scale deployment of our technology. To date, we have invested in facility readiness, procuring long lead items, and completing engineering designs. We also continue to hire and expand our talented workforce to make sure we are ready to start once an award is made.
Third, we continue to successfully operate our HALEU Cascade at our Piketon, Ohio facility under a contract with the U.S. Department of Energy, delivering HALEU that the U.S. Department of Energy urgently needs to help test the next generation of advanced reactors. Centrus achieved the 900 kilogram production milestone for phase two and to date has produced close to a metric ton of HALEU for the Department in the quarter. The Department also exercised an option to extend our contract through June 30, 2026. Our track record of successfully and safely meeting our targets on budget as well as to receive the Department's option to extend the contract further validates our de-risked technology. Our technology has been proven with nearly 3 million machine hours and can meet the full range of America's commercial and national security enrichment requirements, including but not limited to LEU, LEU plus, and HALEU.
Furthermore, there is little cost differential to deploy and operate any of those cascades. Fourth, as we continue to successfully engage with key stakeholders to articulate our value proposition, we are also seeing clear signals at both the federal and state level that governments are looking to accelerate the deployment of civil nuclear energy to meet the growing demand for stable electricity. We are also seeing an increase in the pace of private market investments in securing nuclear power to fuel their future growth. There is a strong consensus among customers as well as policymakers that there is a need for another enricher to bring new supply and new competition to the market that is otherwise dominated by foreign state-owned enterprises. Centrus is proud to offer the free market a publicly traded American source of enrichment services for commercial and national security needs.
With that, I will turn the call over to Kevin to walk through the numbers. Kevin.
Speaker 2
Thank you, Amir. Good morning, everyone. We're pleased to report another quarter of strong financial performance fueled by solid execution across our operations and enhanced gross margins. This reflects continued discipline in cost management and the successful delivery of key contractual commitments. Total revenue for the second quarter was $154.5 million, a decrease of $34.5 million compared to the same quarter last year. Despite the revenue decrease, gross margin improved to 35%, up from 19% in the prior year's quarter, reflecting our focus on operational efficiency and a favorable shift in contractual mix. Total gross profit for the second quarter was $53.9 million, compared to $36.5 million in the same quarter last year. Turning to the bottom line, net income for the second quarter was $28.9 million, compared to $30.6 million in the same quarter last year.
We also generated $114.7 million in net proceeds under our ATM program during the quarter. As of June 30, our cash and cash equivalents stood at $833 million, underscoring our strong liquidity and balance sheet discipline. This elevated cash position continues to generate considerable investment income, particularly in today's high rate environment. In Q2, investment income reached $8 million, tripling the prior year reported amount. The income meaningfully contributed to our bottom line and reflects our commitment to maximizing returns on idle capital while maintaining flexibility for future growth opportunities. Our LEU business generated $125.7 million in revenue, which was a decrease of $43.9 million compared to the same quarter last year. The decrease in revenue for the second quarter was primarily driven by a reduction in SWU sales volume as well as the absence of any sales from uranium during the period.
LEU cost of sales for the second quarter was $75 million, a 45% decrease from $136.6 million in the same quarter last year. The decrease was primarily driven by a 27% reduction in SWU sales volume for the quarter. Customers typically operate under multi-year contracts with annual purchase commitments rather than quarterly obligations. As a result, quarterly sales volumes can vary significantly year over year depending on the timing of deliveries. Even when annual volumes remain stable, for the six months ended June 30, overall SWU sales volume is relatively on par with the prior year. Despite the lower volume in Q2, gross profit increased to $50.7 million, up from $33 million in the prior quarter. Variability in revenue and gross profit within our LEU business reflects the influence of market pricing at the time contracts are signed, coupled with the cost basis of inventory at the point of delivery.
In our Technical Solutions segment, revenue for the second quarter totaled $28.8 million compared to $19.4 million in the same quarter last year. Revenue increased by $9.4 million, or 48%, primarily due to LEU feedstock and cylinder costs incurred to complete our contractual delivery under our HALEU operation contract. Phase two cost of sales for the second quarter of 2025 was $25.6 million, an increase of $9.7 million, or 61%, compared to the same quarter in the prior year. Cost of sales increased in line with revenues. Gross profit for the Technical Solutions segment was $3.2 million in the second quarter, a decrease of $0.3 million compared to the prior year's quarter. As previously disclosed, due to the delay in completing phase two of the HALEU operation contract, the U.S. Department of Energy extended the phase two performance period to June 30, 2025, effective November 24.
However, the fee for the phase two extension has not yet been definitized and is currently under negotiation with the U.S. Department of Energy. As Amir Vexler mentioned earlier, in June 2025 we announced that we had successfully achieved the phase two production target under the HALEU operation contract, contractually delivering 900 kg of HALEU UF6. The DOE amended the HALEU operation contract and exercised the first option period of phase three, which extended the contract through June 30, 2026. The amendment also sets a target cost and fee for the first option period at approximately $99.3 million and $8.7 million, respectively. DOE has the ability to exercise additional optional periods for up to eight additional years of production. As of June 30, 2025, our total company backlog stood at approximately $3.6 billion.
Extending through 2040, the LEU segment backlog was approximately $2.7 billion, which includes $0.6 billion in future SWU and uranium deliveries, primarily under medium and long-term contracts with fixed commitments, and $2.1 billion in contingent LEU sales commitments tied to the potential construction of LEU production capacity. At our Piketon, Ohio facility, we have now entered into definitive agreements for $1.7 billion of the $2.1 billion in contingent LEU sales commitments. The remaining contingent commitments are subject to our ability to secure significant public and private investment to support the development of LEU production capacity. Furthermore, this July we secured an additional $0.1 billion in LEU contingent sales commitments under a definitive agreement. This brings our total contingent LEU sales commitments to $2.2 billion, with $1.8 billion being under definitive agreements. Our Technical Solutions segment backlog was approximately $0.9 billion and includes funded amounts, unfunded amounts, and unexercised options.
The unexercised options pertain to the HALEU operation contract and represent potential future work subject to DOE direction and funding availability. In addition, the Company has continued to pursue initiatives aimed at strengthening its capital structure, enhancing financial flexibility to support both near term operations and long term growth objectives. As noted earlier, in the second quarter of 2025 our ATM program generated an additional $114.7 million in net proceeds. These proceeds, along with gross margin contributions, resulted in an ending cash balance of $847 million as of June 30, 2025, which includes $14 million of restricted cash. The Company's continued strong cash position furthers to support the execution of near term contractual obligation and enable strategic investments in our long term future.
As previously announced, this includes a planned investment of approximately $60 million for manufacturing readiness at our Piketon, Ohio plant, laying the foundation for a potential large scale expansion of uranium enrichment capabilities. These achievements build on the momentum established in 2024 and the first quarter of 2025 as we continue to successfully operate our HALEU cascade under the contract with the U.S. Department of Energy. At the same time, we are actively pursuing investments in our manufacturing capabilities while awaiting the DOE's decision on the allocation of $3.4 billion appropriated to jumpstart domestic nuclear fuel production. This quarter's accomplishments and initiatives have further strengthened Centrus Energy Corp's position to execute its long term strategy of securing sufficient public and private funding. The goal is to deploy our advanced technology at scale and help restore America's domestic uranium enrichment capability. With that, let me turn things back over to Amir.
Speaker 0
Thanks, Kevin. I'd like to close by reminding our investors and listeners of the imperative need to both reduce our dependence on foreign nations and to inject more competition into the market to provide customers with more alternatives. This is especially important given recent announcements from both the public and private sectors on their respective goals for near-term nuclear deployment. The public and private markets are arguably more aligned today than they ever have been at the federal level. The Administration's May executive orders clearly served as strong tailwinds for an already robust and growing nuclear market. These included reducing the time to market required to deploy both large and small modular reactors, as well as raising the bar and setting a goal of quadrupling nuclear output by 2050.
We also expect to see an increase in demand for nuclear assets as a direct result of the Administration's identification of artificial intelligence as a national security imperative. The President recently unveiled a $70 billion AI and energy plan, which will likely require nuclear power. More recently, the House passed the GENESIS Act to regulate stablecoins. As many know, stablecoins and cryptocurrency mining require a vast amount of computational power. These are but some of the examples that are driving an ever-growing need for safe, reliable nuclear energy and therefore a domestic source of nuclear fuel. Centrus stands ready to meet this demand. The push to expand nuclear isn't just coming at the federal level. In New York, Governor Hochul directed the state's Power Authority to build their first new nuclear plant in decades. In Wisconsin, Governor Evers signed legislation to begin identifying sites for new reactors.
In Texas, Governor Abbott signed legislation establishing a $350 million fund to support nuclear construction projects. These mandates further underscore the need for a resilient domestic fuel supply chain. Finally, we are seeing private industry stepping in and making strong commitments to, as well as putting hard dollars behind, nuclear investment announcements and agreements like Amazon and Talen Energy's 1.9 gigawatt long-term power purchase agreement, Microsoft's Three Mile Island agreement, Meta's 20-year agreement to buy nuclear power from Constellation Energy, and Westinghouse's commitment to build 10 large reactors in the United States demonstrate that the barriers that previously impeded nuclear assets deployments are being broken. Furthermore, they underscore how private financing can serve as a bridge in the funding gap, representing an exciting new avenue to access private capital that previously did not exist. In short, our addressable market for domestic commercial LEU and HALEU continues to grow.
Our addressable national security market is potentially growing, and we are now seeing private markets stepping in with creative solutions to secure their access to nuclear power, something that could be consequential for Centrus as part of our public-private partnership plan. It is an exciting time in the nuclear industry, and Centrus is positioned to meet the markets, the nations, and our taxpayers' needs with a proven technology in a domestic supply chain. I would like to close by thanking our growing list of investors, analysts, and listeners, without whom none of this would be possible. We look forward to updating you on our progress on our next earnings call. With that, we are happy to take questions. Operator, thank you.
Speaker 5
If you'd like to ask a question, please press Star 1 on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press Star 2 if you'd like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the Star keys. In the interest of time, we ask that you each keep to one question and one follow-up. Thank you. Our first question comes from the line of Ryan Pfingst with B. Riley. Please proceed with your question.
Speaker 0
Hey guys, thanks for taking my questions. The first one is do you expect to see federal programs stemming from May's executive orders that would be incremental to the DOE's enrichment awards that you were selected for last year that could help fund or otherwise support your capacity expansion. Good question. Thank you for that.
Speaker 4
We really don't have any information. I will say that the executive orders, as you pointed out, are a strong, strong support for what we do, not only for the industry, but specifically for nuclear fuel.
Speaker 0
Although I don't know if there's.
Speaker 4
Anything incremental that is in play, we don't have any information on that. Just the fact that these orders were out there are providing huge support for what we do.
Speaker 0
it. Thanks for that, Amir. For the $60 million investment in centrifuge manufacturing activities and supply chain readiness that you mentioned, curious how that's progressing and when might we see that show up in earnest in the financial statements?
Speaker 4
I'll answer the first part of your question. I'll let Kevin maybe answer the second part. If things are going well, as you know, we have kicked off this effort towards the end of last year. I'm really glad that we did. We are going through the process of ordering long lead items, making sure that we fine tune our cycle times as required, all in preparation of a large centrifuge build. We're also going through first article manufacturing as part of it as well. All in all, it's progressing well. The team is reporting regularly on it and I will let Kevin answer the question around where and when it may show up.
Speaker 3
Yeah, and as a reminder, this was an 18-month initiative that we announced late last year. It's actually running through our financials today through our CapEx, as well as increases associated with advanced technology costs. There are other aspects that we are working associated with building up the workforce in anticipation of the larger build. We also have some costs that are actually running through other avenues within our financial statements today. As noted, we do see this as an 18-month project. We'll continue to have variability in costs in all of the three categories that I just outlined.
Speaker 2
Great.
Speaker 0
I appreciate that detail. I'll turn it back.
Speaker 3
Absolutely. Thank you, Ryan.
Speaker 5
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Rob Brown with Lake Street Capital. Please proceed with your question.
Speaker 2
Good morning and congratulations on the progress.
Speaker 3
Thanks Rob.
Speaker 2
A little more color on the, I think there's some new commitments for the.
Speaker 3
LEU contingent backlog of $100 million.
Speaker 0
What.
Speaker 2
What's sort of the opportunity there?
Speaker 3
Terms of additional customer commitments and you.
Speaker 2
Know, $1.8 billion backlogs.
Speaker 3
Pretty good. How do those, you know, what's the opportunity for additional commitments as.
Speaker 2
As you kind of ramp into your LEU production?
Speaker 4
Let me give you a general answer on this. Obviously, as is in the past, all these agreements cover under the non-disclosures. We're not really revealing it, and I don't think you're asking about the identity of any specific utility. That's not anything we have disclosed before, and we're not going to disclose that. To your question, these agreements are important to us as we size up our plan. As we build out our capability to enrich, customer commitments are crucial. As you pointed out correctly, we've added some, and we are continually working with other customers to continue growing that backlog. I'm not sure there's anything else I could add to it other than just re-emphasizing again that that is a business imperative for us.
Speaker 0
Great, thank you.
Speaker 2
On the HALEU Phase 3 extension, do you expect to continue producing sort of at the same rate of physical production there until some DOE decisions are made, or how do you sort?
Speaker 3
I see that fitting in with the.
Speaker 2
DOE kind of next steps?
Speaker 4
Yeah, to answer your first question, yeah, it's business as usual as far as enrichment goes. The plant is operating. We're enriching at a certain rate. We'll continue to enrich at that rate.
Speaker 0
I hope I answered your question. Please let me know if I haven't. Yep, that was great.
Speaker 2
I'll turn it over.
Speaker 0
Thank you. Thank you.
Speaker 5
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Joseph Reagor with ROTH Capital. Please proceed with your question.
Speaker 0
Hi Amir and team, thanks for taking the questions. Just some questions on the balance.
Speaker 2
Sheet and just kind of general thoughts.
Speaker 0
The balance sheet's pretty robust at this point. Is there any opportunity for you guys to start moving forward with, say, a smaller build out of a low-enriched uranium facility, you know, using your existing funds and maybe whatever's left on the ATM while you wait for the government to make a decision, or in the event that the government decides to appropriate less funds than necessary to you guys, or, you know, less than you expect?
Speaker 4
Good question. What you described is exactly the sort of things that we're continually evaluating based on the U.S. Department of Energy's decision, based on our conversations with our customers. I can't really point one way or the other, but these are the things that we evaluate regularly. The $60 million readiness that we have kicked off has obviously been done with ensuring that we can execute quickly and rapidly should a decision like that be made.
Speaker 0
Apologies that I can't give you.
Speaker 4
A more specific answer. I would just repeat again that you're asking exactly the same things that we are continually evaluating.
Speaker 0
Okay, fair enough. On the ATM, can you remind us what's remaining on your current ATM?
Speaker 3
There is nothing remaining on the ATM. We have exhausted what was currently out there. I think the follow-up question I assume will be what are we evaluating at a go-forward perspective. I think what I would tell you is we're very encouraged by the progress within the market and we're evaluating what's next steps. We can't directly comment on any potential transactions, but I would say we're definitely doing what is necessary to maintain our financial flexibility and be in a position to execute on our strategy as we look forward to potential DOE announcements.
Speaker 0
Okay, fair enough. I'll turn it over. Thanks. Thank you.
Speaker 5
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Vikram Baghri with Citi. Please proceed with your question.
Good morning everyone. I wanted to follow up on the last question. It sounds like you're strengthening the balance sheet ahead of government funding enough that whatever the IDIQ capital is and whatever the capital required for 96 cascades is, you can fill the gap using your own balance sheet. I was wondering if you can highlight what the target amount of capital is on the balance sheet that you want over the next three, six months or one year. What's the sort of like the target cash and balance sheet if there is a target?
Speaker 3
Yeah, that's a great question. Unfortunately, we don't get into details as it relates to what the costs are from a capital build perspective for a lot of reasons, including just the aspect that it's highly sensitive from a business proprietary perspective. What I would say is we do have a fulsome business strategy that we have outlined with a variety of sensitivity analyses as it relates to what we need from the government to build out using a public private partnership. You mentioned the 96 cascades. It's important to note that what we have right now from an infrastructure perspective is we can build out 48. We would need to expand in order to double that. Our main focus is to build out the existing building and marry both public and private funds in order to facilitate a positive return for investors.
We're balancing what we will ultimately need based upon the incoming funds coming from the government through a variety of potential opportunities.
Speaker 0
Was that helpful?
That's very helpful. Thanks a lot. As a follow up, 2/4 are pretty meaningful. Beat on the results. Appreciate the comment about timing of SWOO sales and pricing impacting earnings. You have different contracts with different customers. Appreciate that full year view provides a more holistic picture of profitability. Can you share directionally where the profitability of the entire portfolio as a whole is? Currently, I saw the pricing increase 24% year on year. Cost was down 8%. As we stand today, when you look at the portfolio, the SU portfolio, the backlog that you have, what's the sort of the profitability of those contracts given current pricing?
Speaker 3
Yes. What we've spoken about in the past is that much of the backlog that we have ranges from when the SW market from a commodity pricing perspective was low as well as at its highest point. We are now at a point in time where we sell into a higher market with our customers. We also have impacts as it relates to our cost structure. What I would say is, as you noted, we did have a very strong quarter with profit at approximately 40%. I think what this demonstrates is that we continue to realize good margins within this market. I wouldn't say that should be interpreted as an indication of future margin realization. We do not provide earnings guidance or disclose the mix of the contracts. I can't get into details on what future quarters or even future years will look like.
I will tell you it is reasonable to expect margin levels to remain within the range we've seen over the past few years. From a quarterly perspective, you will see variability. We are on target with regards to our own internal annual outlook. Obviously we don't disclose that with not providing future guidance. We are on track with regards to our own internal projections.
Thank you.
Speaker 0
Thank you.
Speaker 5
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Sameer Joshi with H.C. Wainwright. Please proceed with your question.
Hey, good morning guys. Congrats on the good progress. Many of the questions have been addressed, just a few questions. In the first two quarters, there have been no uranium sales. Of course, we understand it depends on timing of customers when they put their orders. Should we expect the next two quarters to show some level of uranium sales to come on par annual levels that you've seen in the past?
Speaker 3
Yeah, thanks for the question. Unfortunately, we don't provide any guidance or details on individual shipments, whether it's SWU or uranium. What I would say and reiterate is from an overall perspective as it relates to our revenue, we believe that we're on track with our internal projections. I couldn't get into any specifics as it relates to any uranium sales and when we would be able to or desire to execute those as it relates to the remaining inventory that we have on hand for UF6.
That's fair, I understand. Coming to the HALEU operations contract, you have sort of visibility, of course, for the next year, but also the option 1B could give you another two years. It falls in this around $263 million, so around $80 to $90 million. Annual run rate this year might be over $100 million. Is there expectation of that contract increasing and for you to increase your HALEU processing capabilities? Is there any CapEx planned or anticipated for that in future years?
Speaker 4
I'll give you an answer. Kevin, chime in if there's anything you want to add. Obviously, the answer is we are working to the contract with the U.S. Department of Energy. We really don't have any insights beyond what's been publicly announced. I will remind you though that we are the only Western HALEU producer of virgin HALEU. Right now, the Department of Energy is set to provide HALEU to the OEMs, the advanced reactors. That is HALEU that's needed. Unfortunately, I don't have any information on what's been publicly communicated. No further insights into what other exercises there could be. Again, like I said, reiterating, Centrus is the only one that enriches HALEU right now and it is needed.
Understood. Maybe I can squeeze in one more on the, on the LEU expansion. I think you just mentioned our Chairman did the 48 cascade possibility in your current footprint right now. Do we have any estimate on the CapEx required to expand the facility and then deploy the cascades to get to 96? Is there a timeline for that that you are targeting?
Speaker 3
Yeah. As mentioned earlier, we don't provide information as it relates to our CapEx numbers. We have publicly announced throughout the past few years that the first cascade will take 42 months, the second cascade will take 6 months, and the third and each successive cascade will take 2 month increments. We are currently working, especially through our manufacturing Readiness Initiative, to focus in on the potential of pulling those timelines in. However, as of today, that is what we've established. With regards to the project initiative we announced last year, we've been getting ahead of many of the long lead items that we needed to establish, building up our workforce as well as establishing key critical tooling components that will enable us to maintain and manage our facility at what we expect from a baseline perspective and potentially evaluate what we can do from an acceleration vantage point.
Speaker 2
I think all of those are.
Speaker 3
Good points of what we're trying to accomplish, couldn't get into any more details as it relates to cost or timeline outside of that. I think that frames it very well. Was that helpful?
Speaker 0
Yes.
Just clarification or maybe just to get some insight. The first cascade of 42 months, is that mainly capital constrained or is it mainly technology or resource constrained? How should we look at that? How quickly can we pull it in if you get $1 billion additional?
Speaker 4
We are manufacturing the centrifuges ourselves. As you know, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, we have a supply chain that is tapped into providing materials and subcomponents to this. To your question, what paces that 42 months is obviously in any manufacturing cycle, there are cycle times that are associated with manufacturing each component and assembly. That really is what's pacing it. I won't get into any specifics. What specifically is pacing it, just the general comment, costs and things of that nature. If we get into a lot of details, they're information that we guard very, very tightly due to competitive nature. However, just so that I can give you an answer, it really has to do with manufacturing and our ability to manufacture within the cycle times and improve those cycle times, as Kevin Harrell alluded in general, just stating that we're exploring opportunities that are out there.
Sorry I could not give you a very specific answer, but I believe I kind of answered the general theme.
Speaker 0
Of where you were going with this.
Speaker 4
Sameer.
Yes, Amir and Kevin, thanks for the color you provided and I understand the constraints. Thanks a lot for taking my questions.
Speaker 0
Thank you very much.
Speaker 5
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, as a reminder, we ask that you each keep to one question and one follow-up. Our next question comes from the line of Eric Stine with Craig-Hallum Capital Group. Please proceed with your question.
Speaker 0
Good morning, everyone.
Speaker 4
Good morning.
Speaker 3
Or Eric.
Speaker 0
Hey.
Speaker 2
Most of the relevant questions have.
Speaker 0
Been asked but maybe just high level, just on, you know, kind of the overall enrichment backdrop. Obviously, centrifuges is the, you know, the.
Speaker 3
Established, you know, more mature technology.
Speaker 2
I have seen a number of announcements on gas diffusion, laser enrichment.
Speaker 0
Maybe your thoughts on.
Speaker 4
Kind of the role that each has.
Speaker 0
To play how you expect.
Speaker 4
This is asking about the IDIQ.
Speaker 3
How you expect things to kind of shake out going forward by technology?
Speaker 0
Good question.
Speaker 4
Very relevant to our times, particularly in trying to understand the competitive landscape. As in past practice, as in policy, we typically do not talk about any company specifically or any technology specifically. A lot of these technologies are classified, and we really don't have access to them as much as others don't have access to our technology. In very general terms, I think it's important for the investors and the listeners to understand that there's really only three Western enrichers right now that are enriching uranium, and Centrus is one of them. All three of them are centrifuge enrichment technology. It took us decades and billions of dollars to get to where we are. We have successfully completed, or are in the midst of completing, a demonstration program with the U.S. Department of Energy. That is a monumental task that was achieved over many years.
As to where do I see other technologies, just looking at public information, they're not at that stage. We remain to feel confident that the world will have to continue to rely on centrifuge enrichment for the foreseeable future. Okay, that's what I was getting at.
Speaker 0
Thank you very much. Thank you.
Speaker 5
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Lawson Winder with Bank of America. Please proceed with your question.
Thank you very much.
Speaker 0
Good morning.
Amir and Kevin, thank you so much for the update. A nice quarter. If I could, I'd like to follow back up on some of the commentary and discussion around the contracting. As per your LEU backlog, the contingent LEU sales contract book appears to have remained relatively stable since later last year. What we're hearing from other nuclear fuel participants is that utilities today are focused primarily on securing enrichment. We've been kind of anticipating a bit of a pickup in enrichment contracting activity. Given the stability and the expectation that it might have grown, do you see any hesitation from the utilities today on either pricing or duration? Looking at it from another way, is there any scope to take a different approach to the contingent sales and, for example, structure these as traditional commodity offtake?
Rather than just setting them up as contingent sales, getting payment from customers up front to help fund construction and then in turn deliver those SWU in the future?
Speaker 4
I'm just jotting down, it's a two part question. Let me address the first part of your question. Around the steady backlog and the momentum around the backlog. I think I cannot speak for the utilities. Obviously, they have their own strategy around securing supply chain. Getting LEU is critical to powering reactors. They have entire departments of people that are tasked with ensuring that they can get the right deals and that can secure long term deals as well. It is my strong belief, based on discussions, what we're seeing, that the customers do want to see more competition in the market. These deals take a while to negotiate. I would not conclude anything based on it appearing to be a steady state at a certain point in time.
We're in constant discussions and as I mentioned earlier to the first question, I think it was this is an imperative for us.
Speaker 0
Competition is critical.
Speaker 4
As Tenex, as the Russians sort of exit the market at the end of the decade, I think utilities understand that in order for the market to continue to thrive, they have to have more competitors in the market.
Speaker 0
To your second question around.
Speaker 4
The contingent nature of the sales and if there's other ways to contract, we're exploring that all the time. We are utilizing every possible option. We have to make sure that we answer the call for the customers. At the end of the day, I believe we have a common goal. We are a new entrant and the customer is looking for more competition. I don't know that I can say beyond that. You are raising good questions, beyond which I cannot provide details. We're exploring every type of mechanism to make the customers feel comfortable and for us to get what we need to get into the market.
Okay, fantastic. Thank you very much, Amir.
Thank you.
Speaker 5
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Nick Amatuzzi with Evercore ISI, please proceed with your question.
Hey, good morning guys.
Speaker 0
How are you?
Speaker 4
Good morning, Nick.
I wanted to touch upon one kind of big one that Amir kind of alluded to before. With the Russian contract kind of culminating over the next couple of years and only three western enrichers that are currently enriching, how should we be thinking about and how should the investors kind of be thinking about it? Obviously the demand is there from the nuclear side and nuclear fuel, but how should we be thinking about filling that gap and where that capacity comes online just given that it is a 42 month kind of lead time before once we get the allocation that you guys will be really up and running in earnest.
Yeah, good question, Nick. I think what you're alluding to is if I paraphrase your question, please tell me if I don't do a good job paraphrasing. It is you're saying there may be a time gap in there where there may be insufficient Western capacity to backfill, sort of the Russians pulling out of the market, if that is the question. We obviously are working as hard as we can in working with the customers, with the utilities to get everything we can to come align as quickly as possible. We talked about it many times. LEU is a market that's here, that's now. That's the market that we're pursuing. HALEU is, we're positioning ourselves for HALEU as well. We all realize that there is going to be an issue in terms of LEU capacity.
The years that you mentioned, I don't know if I can add anything else to it other than we're working very hard through this public private.
Speaker 0
Partnership that we've identified.
Speaker 4
I think the U.S. Department of Energy understands that there's going to be a gap as well. I think Congress understood that as well. There is a general realization that there is going to be an issue, and we hope to be a big part of the solution. Maybe not for the earlier years, but definitely be part of the solution.
Speaker 0
Right.
No, that was perfect. Thanks, Amir. If I can try and pry on the balance sheet a little bit more and just kind of ask the question, I guess a little bit differently. With $833 million in cash on hand, I guess we're waiting for the actual allocation number, but presumably that starts the clock, and there's inevitably a lag from the government between actual allocation and then deployment of cash.
Speaker 2
I guess.
Speaker 0
How far? How what?
How far can that $833 million of cash take you guys, given that you still have the brokerage business to run?
Speaker 2
Sorry, just to clarify, how far is it?
Speaker 3
Can you take us with regards to meeting.
Speaker 0
Our obligations.
Before you really need to, before you're in need of the deployment of the capital. The difference between the allocation of the DOE funds and the deployment of the DOE funds, given that, if you're able to start, presumably once you get the allocation, how far, I mean, how much runway do you have before the allocation becomes necessary, sorry, the deployment becomes necessary?
Yeah.
Speaker 3
It's a difficult question to answer because there's a lot of variables that are still on the table, specifically associated with what comes down from the DOE. It would be hard to speculate on how long it would last us as it relates to capital deployment, which I think is your question. What I would say is it's a fairly robust number, and if you look at some of our competitors, and I know many of the folks on this call have heard us mention a competitor in Europe who has announced that they're expanding roughly 2.5 million SWU for the equivalent of $2 billion.
I think it's a little bit less than that, but I think that gives you a sense of putting us in a positive position as it relates to being able to not only sustain but grow our business once we receive the allocation from the government. Is that helpful? I know I didn't answer it directly, but I think I did it in a way that gives you a sense of what that money can do for us on a go forward basis when we actually get an announcement from.
Speaker 2
The U.S. Department of Energy, we'll say it's.
Close enough for government work, Kevin.
Speaker 0
Thank you.
Speaker 3
Excellent.
Speaker 0
Thank you.
Speaker 5
Thank you, Nate. Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Jed Dorsheimer with William Blair. Please proceed with your question.
Speaker 0
Hi, thanks for taking my question.
Speaker 2
Congratulations on a fantastic quarter, guys.
Speaker 0
Thank you, Jeff. I guess, yeah, Amir maybe and maybe Kevin too.
Speaker 2
Just sort of a higher-level structural. You know, a lot of the questions have been asked around capital.
Speaker 0
I'm wondering, you know, if we.
Speaker 2
Look at what the U.S. Department of Defense did with MP Materials in setting a market structure in terms of pricing of neodymium.
Speaker 0
It seems like the government understands.
Speaker 2
The U.S. Department of Energy understands the challenges.
Speaker 0
With HALEU quite well, but it hasn't.
Speaker 2
Necessarily trickled over to LEU. I'm just wondering, do you see that is kind of the pathway forward in terms of government intervention to setting a floor on the market or structure that's similar? I'm curious your thoughts on that.
Speaker 0
Interesting question, Jed. I do not really wish to go.
Speaker 4
to speculate too far as to how and in what manner the U.S. Department of Energy or the government in general will impact the market. I honestly have no insight into this. It would be interesting to watch how things unfold with the awards, and you know, I'll remind you that they have substantial awards to make, not only LEU but also HALEU. There is national security and there's the conversion. I think you're asking a very relevant question, which is whether this size of awards will be enough to sway and influence the market. Honestly, I do not know. It will depend how the agreements and contracts will be structured and how they will flow down to the award recipients.
Speaker 0
Nonetheless, a good question to keep.
Speaker 4
In mind and keep an eye on.
Speaker 0
Great, thanks.
Speaker 3
I'll jump back in the queue.
Speaker 2
Nice to see the quarters. Pretty straightforward.
Speaker 0
Thank you, Jed.
Speaker 5
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Stephen Dingaro with Stifel. Please proceed with your question.
Speaker 0
Thanks. Good morning everybody. Just one for me. Outside of sort of the expectations on the Centrus side over time, are there any other areas of the supply chain that interest you over time? I guess you're trying to understand the question, Stephen.
Speaker 4
A little more holistically.
Speaker 0
Obviously, this is why.
Speaker 3
Yeah, when we think about the.
Speaker 0
Lifestyle, life, you know, from mining through fuel fab. Are there any other pieces outside of what you're currently focused on, on the centrifuge technology side that you think would be additive or strategically important for Centrus to be involved in?
Speaker 4
Yes, now I understand your question.
Speaker 0
So.
Speaker 4
Our focus right now, and we're very laser focused on reindustrializing and commercializing our centrifuge technology. As you know, we already kick started our readiness as we mentioned numerous times. Could vertical integration, using my words, be helpful? I would not want to speculate or say anything at this point. I can see just in general terms, not speaking for Centrus, but I mean there's obviously advantages in certain level of vertical integration and the efficiency that it brings. I'm not really revealing or announcing anything here. I do want to say that we're always evaluating opportunities, we're always evaluating possibilities on how to become more efficient, more cost efficient, more competitive. Our goal and primary mission right now is the enrichment. Nonetheless, good question.
Speaker 0
Okay, thank you, Amir.
Speaker 5
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Jeff Grant with Northland Capital Markets. Please proceed with your question.
Speaker 0
Good morning. Want to go back to the phase three HALEU contract that you guys are currently underway with. Given that the volume targets I believe are fairly consistent with levels that you guys have already kind of proven out or demonstrated, what would you say are kind of.
Speaker 4
The main goals or objectives of phase.
Speaker 0
Three relative to what you've demonstrated in Phase two? Thanks. Okay, so I'm assuming you are talking about the HALEU contract.
Speaker 4
The goals are to continue producing at our rates and fulfilling the stated deliveries.
Speaker 0
The production rates that we've committed to.
Speaker 4
We are well positioned to do that.
Speaker 0
Okay, just to peel that onion back a little bit more, would you say it's, I guess the objective is to continue to demonstrate the, I guess, consistency or longevity to produce at these levels, or is there anything that's particularly different in any meaningful way relative to the operations of the past year or so?
Speaker 4
I see what you mean.
Speaker 0
From my perspective, it's you.
Speaker 4
It is termed as a demo program, and we're very thankful and grateful for the opportunity to be engaged in a long-term demonstration. As you know, we have been already demonstrating and continuously enriching for over a year and a half now. As we stated publicly before, the performance of our machines has been.
Speaker 5
Meeting.
Speaker 4
Our expectations as designed. It is a bit awkward because the material that is used during this demo program is actually useful, and it's going to be used for useful purposes. It's sort of like a dual use program. We will continue learning as much as we can out of that demonstration. As I mentioned earlier, the equipment and the centrifuges, everything runs as designed and as we expect them to, within the parameters we expect them to. We will continue the production. Understood.
Speaker 0
Thank you. Appreciate the time.
Speaker 5
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our question and answer session. I'll turn the floor back to Mr. Nagarajan for any final comments.
Speaker 1
Thank you, operator. This will conclude our investor call for the second quarter of 2025. As always, I want to extend a thank you to our listeners online and our analysts who called in. We look forward to speaking with you again next quarter.
Speaker 5
Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.