Disclaimer: This analysis is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. All investments carry risk, including the risk of loss. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Please consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions.
Position Disclosure: The author holds positions in the following symbols: AAOI, AAPL, ALAB, AMD, AMPX, AMZN, APLD, APP, ASTS, AUR, BBAI, BFLY, BKSY, BRK.B, CEG, COHR, CRDO, CRWV, ESTC, ETH, GOOG, GOOGL, HURA, HUT, IBIT, INOD, IONQ, IREN, JOBY, KTOS, LITE, LMND, MBLY, META, MSFT, NBIS, NTRA, OKLO, OUST, PDYN, PL, PLTR, POET, QBTS, QUBT, RCAT, RGTI, RKLB, RLAY, RR, SDGR, SERV, SGOV, SITM, SMR, SOUN, SYM, TEM, USMV, VGT, VICR, VRT.
Every week, we score ~120 public companies on one question: as AI changes how businesses think, build, and compete, who benefits most? These five ranked highest this week — a sample of the full analysis available to members.
How We Picked Them: Selected from our full coverage based on growth potential, AI advantage, and how well-positioned each company is as of May 29, 2026. We diversified across sectors so you see a range of opportunities, not just one hot corner of the market.
Also available as a PDF download.
IREN Limited (IREN)
ai
cloud
energy
crypto
hardware
Synopsis
The setup is attractive because the company controls AI-era bottlenecks that customers urgently need. The debate is not demand; it is whether execution and financing let common shareholders keep enough of the value created.
Thesis
IREN can still create strong 5-year equity upside by turning scarce power-backed campuses into contracted AI infrastructure faster than
capex, depreciation and
dilution erode per-share value; the nonlinear upside comes if it evolves from a mining transition story into a repeatable allocator, builder and operator of powered compute.
Last Economy Alignment (0.8/1.0)
IREN owns a real AI-era choke point: delivered power, land and data-center capacity. It is strongly helped by rising compute demand, but not fully pivotal because financing, hardware supply and customer concentration still cap value capture.
Critique
If large AI buyers use third-party capacity only as a
bridge,
GPU refresh cycles reset economics, and IREN fails to attach sticky managed services, it may remain a capital-heavy landlord whose revenue growth does not convert into durable per-share value.
ServiceNow, Inc. (NOW)
software
enterprise
ai
automation
cloud
Synopsis
The platform already sits in valuable workflow paths across large enterprises, so the debate is less about demand than about value capture. If AI usage translates into trusted, non-seat monetization, the company can sustain premium growth without needing an extreme
rerating.
Thesis
ServiceNow is one of the few application software companies that can benefit from cheaper cognition because it sits in the governed action layer of enterprise work; if it keeps shifting monetization from human seats to verified actions, AI governance, security, and outcome-linked automation, it can compound well above mature software peers through 2031.
Last Economy Alignment (0.7/1.0)
AI increases the need for trusted workflow execution, permissions, and audit trails, which plays to ServiceNow’s control points. The main offset is that Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, and
hyperscalers could bundle enough native orchestration to cap pricing power.
Critique
The bear case is that AI expands workflow volume but not ServiceNow’s value capture: agents reduce seat intensity, partner surfaces own the interface, and larger suites make governance good enough inside their native stacks before ServiceNow fully scales non-seat pricing.
Nebius Group N.V. (NBIS)
cloud
ai
enterprise
software
hardware
Synopsis
The company owns real AI infrastructure bottlenecks and could still roughly double
enterprise value by 2031. But future upside depends more on energizing power cheaply and layering software attach than on proving demand exists.
Thesis
Nebius is a leveraged bet on AI infrastructure scarcity: if it keeps converting
contracted power and financing into live, sold-out capacity while layering
inference and sovereign-region software on top, revenue can compound far faster than normal cloud markets, but current valuation means equity upside now depends on disciplined execution rather than narrative alone.
Last Economy Alignment (0.8/1.0)
Nebius owns scarce power-to-compute conversion and sells the infrastructure that rising AI demand pulls through. It is strongly aligned with the
Last Economy, but not closer to pivotal because much of its capture still comes from usage-priced capacity that could face price compression if bigger clouds out-execute it.
Critique
This may still be a premium compute-rental story: if
GPU-hour pricing compresses, customers multi-home, and Nebius fails to build a real trust and software layer, revenue can grow while shareholder returns disappoint.
Applied Digital Corporation (APLD)
ai
energy
cloud
hardware
Synopsis
The company owns a real AI-era choke point: utility-backed campuses that
hyperscalers want. But after the
rerating, the next leg depends less on signing leases and more on turning financed
megawatts into operating cash flow.
Thesis
Applied Digital can still roughly double by 2031 if it converts its power-secured, lease-backed AI campuses into operating cash flow faster than financing costs and
dilution absorb the economics; the edge is scarce powered capacity, not software.
Last Economy Alignment (0.7/1.0)
APLD benefits as AI demand shifts value toward scarce power-backed capacity. Its value capture is contract-specific infrastructure, not software seats, but financing dependence and
hyperscaler bargaining power cap the score.
Critique
This may be a capital-markets product more than a durable platform: if cheaper-capital landlords or
hyperscalers internalize the build, APLD could create operating value without creating equivalent common-equity value.
Astera Labs, Inc. (ALAB)
semiconductors
networking
ai
hardware
software
Synopsis
This is a real AI infrastructure beneficiary, but not a free option. The case works if switch and custom-connectivity wins broaden fast enough to overcome concentration and the multiple compression that usually follows early hypergrowth.
Thesis
Astera is a leveraged toll collector on AI rack complexity: if
Scorpio becomes repeatable production content across multiple
hyperscaler and OEM platforms, the company can expand from
retimers into switches, custom connectivity and a higher-value control layer, driving several-fold revenue growth by 2031; the catch is that today’s
premium valuation likely turns that into a strong double, not a moonshot.
Last Economy Alignment (0.7/1.0)
Astera sells scarce connectivity, validation and telemetry control points that become more valuable as AI racks proliferate, but merchant-silicon pricing and buyer concentration cap the score.
Critique
If
COSMOS stays mostly bundled and
Scorpio remains a narrow program win,
hyperscalers can treat Astera as a premium component supplier, force cost-downs, and cap both share gains and valuation.