While other sectors stall, AI investment is accelerating — showing up in earnings calls, corporate budgets, and real-world deployment. Capital is quietly concentrating around companies with clear demand and long-term relevance, and selective opportunities are forming right now.
A new research brief identifies 2 AI stocks trading under $15 that may be positioned for the next phase of growth — including key developments that could move these names in the months ahead.
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OpenAI May Wait Until 2027 — And That Tells You More Than a Date on a Calendar
OpenAI leaning toward pushing an IPO out to 2027 is the kind of boardroom signal you don’t ignore. A company at the center of the AI arms race doesn’t delay liquidity because it’s bored — it does it because the capital structure, the regulatory risk, or the pricing power isn’t where they want it yet.
In plain English: they think they can grow into a bigger valuation, with better margins and cleaner governance, by staying private a little longer. It also suggests the next year may be about tightening the story: durable revenue, controllable compute costs, and a clearer line between “amazing demos” and “repeatable enterprise cash flow.”
🥃 Cole's Take: If you’re hoping for a near-term IPO pop, take a breath. The bigger opportunity may be second-order: the suppliers (compute, power, data center infrastructure, and AI tooling) that monetize whether OpenAI is public or not. When the hottest name in the room delays, it’s usually because they believe the room will be even hotter later — and they want to walk in after they’ve upgraded the suit.
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Starlink Wants to Be a Mobile Carrier — and That’s a Shot Across Every Telecom Bow
Starlink positioning itself as more than “internet from space” is the logical next move. Once you can connect rural homes, ships, planes, and oilfields, the next prize is the device in everyone’s pocket — and the monthly bill attached to it. The reporting highlights analyst chatter that this evolution could put traditional carriers in play, even floating a scenario like a T-Mobile buyout.
Whether or not a big acquisition happens, the direction matters: the value chain is shifting. Satellite-to-phone connectivity moves from novelty to utility, and suddenly spectrum, towers, and legacy network economics don’t look as untouchable. The incumbents will call it complementary — right up until customers realize “coverage everywhere” is the only feature they ever really wanted.
🥃 Cole's Take: I don’t trade on analyst daydreams, but I do watch strategic gravity. Starlink doesn’t need to buy a carrier to pressure carrier margins — it just needs to make “good enough” mobile connectivity available where towers don’t reach. If you own telecom for the dividend, keep owning it, but start stress-testing what happens when the moat is no longer geographic.
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SEC Targets Continuation Funds: Private Equity’s Quiet $106B Habit Is Getting Loud
The SEC focusing on continuation funds is a big deal for anyone with money tied to pensions, endowments, or institutional portfolios — which is most working Americans, whether they know it or not. Continuation vehicles let private equity firms move assets from an older fund into a new one, often extending hold periods and resetting economics in ways that can benefit the manager.
Done well, it’s a tool: more time to improve an asset, more flexibility, and a cleaner path to liquidity for investors who want out. Done poorly, it can look like a manager selling to themselves, marking valuations in-house, and collecting another round of fees while limited partners swallow the uncertainty. Regulators circling it means the gray area is shrinking.
🥃 Cole's Take: Private equity isn’t evil — it’s just incentive-driven, and incentives need daylight. If you’re a high earner investing through an advisor, ask one uncomfortable question: “How does the manager get paid if this asset stays private longer?” If the answer is “more,” then you’d better be getting a real discount, real governance, and real transparency — not a glossy deck and a promise.
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Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim: The Hike That Punishes Ego and Rewards Planning
Rim-to-rim at the Grand Canyon looks like a bucket-list stroll in photos and turns into a full-body negotiation in real life. The piece lays out the practical stuff that matters: route timing, water strategy, heat management, and the little mistakes that compound when you’re thousands of feet below the rim with nowhere to hide from your own decisions.
This is a logistics hike more than a “just send it” hike. It’s not technically complex, but the canyon is ruthless about exposure, temperature swings, and pace discipline. If you treat it like a long day at the park, you’ll learn humility the hard way.
🥃 Cole's Take: This is exactly how I think about markets: the canyon doesn’t care how motivated you are, and neither does volatility. Start early, plan your refills, leave margin for error, and don’t let pride set your pace. The best stories are the ones you can tell afterward — not the ones that end with a helicopter ride.
Image via Off Road Xtreme
2027 GMC Sierra 1500 AT4X: Luxury Finally Admits It Loves Dirt
The new 2027 GMC Sierra 1500 AT4X is aimed straight at the guy who wants a premium cabin Monday through Friday and a trail-capable rig on Saturday without feeling like he compromised either way. Upgraded tech, fresh powertrain options, and factory off-road credibility keep pushing the segment into what I call “executive overland” — capable, comfortable, and unapologetically expensive.
The broader point: the truck market is no longer about work-first identity. It’s lifestyle, towing confidence, and getting to the trailhead in something that feels as dialed-in as your daily driver. The manufacturers understand that buyers will pay for capability they use 10 weekends a year if it also upgrades every commute.
🥃 Cole's Take: If you’re shopping this class, don’t get hypnotized by badges and spec-sheet theater. Buy the chassis, tires, and suspension you’ll actually use — and then spend the leftover money on fuel, time off, and a place worth driving to. A truck is a tool; if it’s going to be a toy too, make sure it earns the garage space.
Pursuit DC 286: The Dual-Console That Makes Weekends Feel Like a Promotion
The Pursuit DC 286 hits that sweet spot for boat owners who want flexibility without turning boating into a second career. Dual-console layouts shine because they do multiple jobs well: family cruising, sandbar days, light fishing, and short offshore runs — without forcing everyone to live in a center-console wind tunnel.
What stands out is the “use it often” design philosophy. Storage, seating, and practical details matter more than brochure bravado, and Pursuit tends to build for owners who actually put hours on the hull. If your idea of wealth is time outside, a boat like this is a time machine — it just happens to run on gasoline.
🥃 Cole's Take: Boats are the purest form of lifestyle investing: they pay dividends in memories, not dollars. If you’re going to do it, buy the one that matches how you really spend a Saturday, not the one that impresses strangers at the dock. And budget for maintenance like you budget for insurance — the ocean doesn’t do “surprise expenses” politely.
I’m headed to the smoker and then nine holes — the kind of portfolio management that involves brisket timing and a steady tempo. Stay sharp, stay liquid, and don’t confuse a good story with a good investment. — Cole
— Cole Hargrove