July 15 (Reuters) - Standard Nuclear slashed the size of its proposed U.S. initial public offering by more than 50% on Wednesday, joining a string of companies that have scaled back their valuation targets this year to align with cautious investor sentiment.
The early-stage nuclear fuel company is now planning to sell 10 million shares at $15 apiece. It had earlier intended to offer 18.25 million shares priced between $18 and $21 each.
At $15, Standard Nuclear would fetch a valuation of $2.4 billion,
compared with its previous target of $3.55 billion.
Although the U.S. IPO market has made a strong comeback this year, analysts say investors are still cautious on valuations and are happy to pass over less-exciting offerings. Ambulance giant GMR and small modular reactor developer firm Deep Fission have also downsized their IPOs in recent months.
"The poor performance of recent IPOs, including SpaceX, is negatively affecting the demand for U.S. IPOs, in particular for high-risk, loss-making deals such as Standard Nuclear," IPOX CEO Josef Schuster said.
The Oak Ridge, Tennessee-based company focuses on processing enriched uranium feedstock into advanced nuclear fuel for advanced nuclear reactors, including small modular reactors and microreactors.
It posted a net loss of $7.7 million and revenue of $593,802 in the three months ended March 31, compared with a net loss of $8.3 million and revenue of $377,926 a year earlier.
The company generates revenue mainly from fuel development agreements and research and development projects.
"Sector-specific weakness is contributing to the more challenging pricing environment," Schuster said, referring to the subdued trading of NuScale Power and Oklo, both down more than 35% this year.
Standard Nuclear is expected to price its IPO later on Wednesday and debut on the NYSE on Thursday.
(Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil and Pragyan Kalita in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
