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Investing.com— Speculation surrounding an eventual initial public offering for artificial intelligence lab Anthropic has captured retail attention on Wall Street. Yet for individual investors, late-stage venture hype rarely leaves substantial upside on the table by the time private unicorns reach public exchanges.
The smarter trade is already public: owning the equipment makers and cluster builders powering Anthropic's physical infrastructure.
This is why InvestingPro's disciplined screening models follow the cash rather than the hype. Ahead of the November rebalance, Investing.com's premium list of top AI-picked tech stocks holds two hardware specialists forecast to grow annual earnings by up to 82%—anchoring a basket of diverse opportunities capturing the physical AI expansion without the venture risk.
See our list of AI-picked tech stocks for November: Explore Tech Titans strategy on InvestingPro
Building the high-density computing backbone
Deploying multi-billion-parameter artificial intelligence models requires specialized, high-density computing architecture. As hyperscalers and enterprises scale their infrastructure, Penguin Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:PENG)is proving to be a key provider of turnkey high-performance computing clusters.
Trading near $54.92 per share with a market capitalization of $3.3 billion, Penguin operates far outside the speculative hype of Silicon Valley startups. Instead, the company is pairing real profitability with rapid expansion.
While private AI companies seek valuations at 40 times revenue, this official Nvidia deployment partner generated 141% year-over-year AI sales growth in its latest quarter and trades at a forward P/E of just 11.3x. Looking ahead, management recently raised guidance, with consensus analyst projections forecasting a 40.3% top-line expansion and an 82.5% surge in earnings per share.
InvestingPro's Financial Health data validates the acceleration: Penguin's diluted earnings growth ranks in the 98th percentile of the technology sector, confirming its AI infrastructure pivot is translating directly to bottom-line execution.
The silicon layer with a strong balance sheet
While Penguin deploys server clusters, foundational AI models cannot exist without cutting-edge silicon. Lam Research Corp (NASDAQGS:LRCX)serves as that critical supplier of atomic-scale wafer fabrication and etching equipment required to build high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and next-generation AI processors.
Wall Street sentiment across semiconductor equipment has cooled over the past month, dragging Lam Research down 24.7% to trade near $237.50. Yet that cyclical sell-off contrasts sharply with underlying business expectations and cash generation.
Despite the recent price drop, Lam just delivered its fifth consecutive quarter of record results, including a record $3.24 billion in free cash flow and a 20-year high gross margin of 52.4%. Meanwhile, consensus analyst forecasts project Lam's forward revenue to climb 52.0%, with earnings per share expected to expand 47.6%.
InvestingPro's Financial Health framework ranks Lam's earnings trend and gross profit trajectory in the 100th percentile of the tech sector. Rather than balance-sheet trouble, the sell-off reflects short-term cyclical noise. Detailed debt profiles and operational metrics are tracked inside the Lam Research Pro Research Reporton InvestingPro.
Track Lam Research's Financial Health benchmarks and forward forecasts: Access the Lam Research Pro Research Report on InvestingPro
The broader ecosystem: Capturing AI infrastructure without the IPO premium
Penguin and Lam Research represent just the tip of the iceberg in public artificial intelligence infrastructure. ProPicks AI tracks a broader network of roughly half a dozen public tech plays with direct operational ties to frontier AI deployment.
This overlooked supply chain includes a premier enterprise IT partner actively integrating Claude into Fortune 500 workflows, a high-performance custom silicon designer co-developing cloud processors, and four specialized semiconductor equipment monopolies that have been unfairly dragged down 20% to 40% in recent weeks.
Rather than attempting to guess quarterly inflection points in volatile tech cycles, quantitative discipline removes the emotion. ProPicks AI models continuously re-evaluate the entire AI ecosystem—tracking cash generation, balance-sheet resilience, and valuation upside—and automatically rebalance allocations on the first of each month to keep investors positioned in the highest-probability winners.
To see all monthly stock picks ahead of the November update: Explore the latest ProPicks AI strategies on InvestingPro
Disclosure: The author holds no position in the stocks mentioned. Data and financial metrics as of October 27, 2026.
Original Article
Why wait for Anthropic's IPO? Here are two AI enablers boasting 40%+ growth
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