OpenAI and Anthropic could be two of the biggest AI IPOs Wall Street has seen in years.

But investors don’t have to wait for those names to hit the public markets to get exposure to the AI boom.

MarketBeat’s 7 AI Stocks to Buy Now report reveals 7 publicly traded companies already positioned to benefit as the next wave of AI investment moves beyond the private model providers.

These are the stocks investors can buy today, before the IPO crowd rushes in.

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With the short-term trend improving but participation narrowing, July becomes a checkpoint month. Investors are paying up for predictable cash flows while the market asks fast movers to prove it. Healthcare leads for now, but the real tell will be how fees, flows, and backlogs hold up as updates arrive.

After a sharp year-to-date drawdown, Blue Owl Capital caught a small bid into quarter end. The stock rose 4.6 percent on July 2 and 6.6 percent for the week, but it is still down about 39.5 percent this year and more than half from its high. The next checkpoint is Blue Owl's July call on July 30, where the tape will focus less on headline earnings and more on the durability of the fee engine.

Why fees matter here is straightforward. Company materials show about 188 billion dollars in fee-paying assets, and roughly 85 percent of fees come from permanent capital. Street consensus sits near 0.22 in earnings per share and 687.9 million in revenue, but the bigger driver is whether fee-bearing assets and deployment remain on pace. If recurring fees are clearly growing, sentiment can re-anchor. If fee growth or deployment wobbles, the drawdown may not be done.

What to watch: growth in fee-paying assets, backlog deployment, and the fee-related earnings margin. Management’s color on net new commitments and deployment cadence will matter more than one quarter’s reported number. Given how far the stock has fallen, even small changes in those inputs could spark an outsized move in either direction.

Flows into the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF turned positive for five straight sessions in late June, and the fund sits roughly 1 percent above its 50 day and 4 percent above its 200 day. That is a measured bid, not a rush, and it lines up with a tape that is rewarding consistency while breadth softens.

A clean set of July checkpoints will test whether that quiet rotation has legs. Costco posts June sales on July 8, PepsiCo reports July 9, Coca-Cola on July 28, and Procter &amp, Gamble on July 29. If volumes hold up, pricing remains firm, and currency is manageable, defensive leadership can persist.

The flip side is straightforward. If risk appetite reaccelerates, if volumes soften or promotions creep in, or if pricing power fades, flows can reverse quickly. Track participation as well as price. With participation fading but the short-term trend improving, staples can act as ballast even as healthcare leads the sector board.

One of this year’s more volatile winners just ran into a reality check. Planet Labs fell about 35 percent over the past month after a 411 percent one-year run, shifting attention to Planet Labs’ second-half setup and the pace of execution from here.

Backlog is real, timing matters. Company disclosures show remaining performance obligations near 852 million dollars and total backlog around 900 million, with roughly one third due within 12 months. The key swing factor is how quickly signed work converts into recognized revenue.

Fiscal 2026 finished with positive adjusted profit, positive free cash flow, and roughly 640 million in cash, which helps, but the market will want to see margins continue to improve as revenue scales. Watch conversion from backlog to revenue, large contract milestones, and any commentary on customer budgets. If conversion slows or spend steps up before revenue follows, the pause can last longer.

Into next week, watch Costco on July 8 and PepsiCo on July 9 for an early read on staples, and keep an eye on breadth as healthcare leadership sets the tone.