Barron's has compiled a list of companies that stand to benefit from ChatGPT developer OpenAI becoming the world's most expensive private startup. It included several members of the Magnificent Seven as well as less obvious beneficiaries, such as hard disk drive manufacturers that are benefiting from rising infrastructure costs for artificial intelligence.

OpenAI, which remains a private company, was valued at $500 billion as a result of a $6.6 billion deal for investors to buy back shares from employees, Bloomberg reported, citing sources. The company itself did not directly receive money from the deal. But it strengthens its position for future rounds of financing and opens the way to a possible large-scale IPO, Barron's emphasized. So far, however, there are no signs that OpenAI is preparing to float its shares on the stock exchange, the publication added.

Whose shares were included in the list

- Among the obvious beneficiaries are companies that have already received multi-billion dollar contracts or investments from OpenAI. OpenAI's new valuation only reinforces the market's confidence that it will be able to fulfill these contractual obligations. A clear example of such a beneficiary is Oracle, which has a five-year, $300 billion cloud computing contract with OpenAI. The company's market value is already up nearly 74% since the beginning of the year, but the Wall Street consensus leaves room for another 17% upside. 65% of analysts tracking the company's securities recommend investors buy them.

- Next on the list is CoreWeave, which has signed agreements with OpenAI for up to $22.4 billion for its cloud infrastructure. CoreWeave's shares have soared more than 250% since going public on the Nasdaq exchange in March 2025. Against this backdrop, Wall Street analysts are more cautious: less than 50% advise buying its stock, and the average target is almost identical to the current quote level.

- Chipmaker Broadcom is another beneficiary of OpenAI's growth according to Barron's. The ChatGPT developer is believed to be the company's "mysterious" customer who ordered $10 billion worth of chips, the publication says. Broadcom's stock has risen 47% since the beginning of the year, and Wall Street sees it as having upside potential of another 15%. More than 90% of analysts recommend investors to buy them.

- Magnificent Seven member Nvidia, which backed OpenAI with investments of up to $100 billion, was also among the beneficiaries of the startup's high valuation. Nvidia stock has added more than 40% since the start of the year, and its consensus price target is nearly 17% above its last close. The vast majority of analysts - 60 out of 65 - advise investors to buy the company's securities.

- Another beneficiary from the "Magnificent Seven" on Barron's list was OpenAI's early investor Microsoft. Although the companies have become less dependent on each other over time, Microsoft is still to receive about 30% stake in OpenAI's commercial division after completing its lengthy restructuring and is still providing the startup with cloud resources, the publication emphasizes.

- Various companies in the AI supply chain, especially storage and memory manufacturers, could also be indirect beneficiaries of OpenAI's success, Barron's said. He cited hard disk drive makers Western Digital and Seagate Technology as examples. Their stocks are up more than 190% each since the beginning of the year as AI creates demand for more storage. Average target prices for both companies are now a quarter below current quotes.

- Another beneficiary could be memory chip maker Micron Technology. Despite the fact that OpenAI has signed major agreements with the company's South Korean competitors - SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics - as part of the Stargate project, the volume of orders should be enough for everyone, Barron's believes. Micron's stock has gained almost 118% since the beginning of the year and is already trading near Wall Street's average target price.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor

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