A political earthquake rattled energy and construction markets Tuesday after Democrats were projected to capture both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections.
Texas compounded the shock by electing Gina Hinojosa as governor, a candidate who ran on tightening the state’s data-center moratorium, sending a chill through the AI infrastructure trade.
Comfort Systems USA (NYSE: FIX) bore the worst of the selling, plunging 15%, while Quanta Services (NYSE: PWR) shed 12% and EMCOR Group (NYSE: EME) gave up 9%, even as the broader S&P 500 climbed 2%.
KeyBanc analyst Sophie Karp downgraded Vistra to Sector Weight, warning that the Democratic sweep in Texas will “come as a negative surprise to investors.”
Among reactor developers, Oklo (NYSE: OKLO) declined 6% and fellow startup NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR) fell 4%, with neither company having issued any news of its own.
What separates Oklo from the contractors is the near-total absence of a revenue cushion, with analysts forecasting only $3.04 million in sales for the current year.
The company is still constructing its first reactor, and roughly 14 gigawatts of its project pipeline was tied to data-center customers as of November 2025, making it acutely sensitive to any regulatory pullback in that sector.
Investors had already priced enormous future growth into the stock, which was trading at 596 times next-twelve-months sales at Tuesday’s close before the selloff deepened.
The funding model adds another layer of risk: Oklo finances its build by selling shares, and the average price achieved on those sales had already slipped to $63.51 per share in the second quarter, down sharply from $96.95 in January.
With the stock hitting a new 52-week low after Tuesday’s session, each additional decline forces the company to issue more shares to raise the same amount of capital, diluting existing holders further.
Cash and securities stood at $3.0 billion as of June 30, 2026, yet analysts project the company will burn through $6.3 billion in free cash flow between 2026 and 2030, leaving its equity-sale treadmill running at high speed.
The electrical and mechanical contractors, by contrast, carry record order books that offer some insulation from near-term policy shifts, even if longer-term demand comes into question.
Comfort Systems reported a backlog of $17.81 billion at the end of September, more than $8.0 billion higher than a year earlier, while EMCOR’s remaining performance obligations reached a record $18.57 billion, up 47.2%.
The central uncertainty for those contractors is whether corporate customers will pause or cancel planned data-center projects if stricter regulations begin taking shape at the state level.
NuScale’s position differs somewhat because its primary domestic prospect is a utility arrangement, with partner ENTRA1 in negotiations over a power deal with the Tennessee Valley Authority rather than a data-center operator.
Whether a broader backlash against data-center construction touches that utility-focused order is one of the questions NuScale’s November 5 earnings report is expected to address.
Oklo is scheduled to release its own third-quarter results before the market opens on November 6, with investors watching closely for any update on the company’s cash position and pipeline commitments.
A campaign promise is not yet law, but in a market priced on expectations years into the future, the distinction between political risk and regulatory reality can move stocks long before any legislation is drafted.
