GM. This is Milk Road Stocks, where we look one layer deeper than everyone else.
OpenAI just launched its smartest model yet but there’s another company already sitting underneath its AI boom and its backlog just hit $638B.
First, a quick detour to private markets.
On Sept 23, Milk Road's Martin sits down with Alumni Ventures to talk about blockchain and private markets. Save your free seat here.
OPENAI JUST DROPPED ITS BEST MODEL YET 🤖
On September 3rd, OpenAI launched Astra and called it its most intelligent model yet.
And this is how the internet decides to use it.
Astra is built to operate browsers, spreadsheets, CRM systems, terminals and desktop applications the same way a person would.
It can work through an entire job that takes dozens of steps cutting the average task time from around 75 minutes to 40 minutes.
Now here's the problem.
All of that is great news for OpenAI but OpenAI isn't public. You can't buy it.
The IPO isn't here yet and when it arrives, you'll be buying into a $300B+ valuation on day one with limited financial visibility.
The next easiest way to get exposure to the OpenAI trade is Oracle.
Oracle is the largest infrastructure partner sitting underneath OpenAI.
The number that tells the full story is Oracle's RPO.
RPO (Remaining Performance Obligation) is essentially the contracted revenue that has already been signed but not yet recognized on the income statement.
Think of it as the backlog of work Oracle has already sold but hasn't delivered yet.
Oracle's RPO has reached $638B, up 363% year over year. It grew by another $85B in a single quarter.
For context, Oracle generated around $57B in total revenue during all of fiscal 2025. The current backlog is more than 11x that annual figure.
Management expects:
- 12% of the backlog to convert into revenue over the next 12 months which is roughly $77B.
- Another 34% converts in the two years after that which is an additional $217B in revenue.
In essence, this is the loop on why we’re bullish on OpenAI:
Better models → more AI agents → more tokens consumed → more GPUs, power, networking, data center capacity → more Oracle revenue under contracts already signed.
The next catalyst is Oracle's earnings on Thursday.
And ahead of the print, Melvin has already decided to load up on ORCL.
You can see his full announcement here.
Our analysts spend their days looking one, two, sometimes three layers underneath the headline trade to find the companies actually selling the picks and shovels.
Everyone is waiting for the OpenAI IPO.
But our analysts are already looking for the companies making money from OpenAI today.
If you want our analysts to do that research for you, try Milk Road PRO for $1.
You’ll get access to all five analyst portfolios, their latest trades and the reasoning behind them.
FREE SEMINAR ON BLOCKCHAIN & PRIVATE MARKETS
Is VC capital still flowing into crypto or has AI taken it all?
Where is venture capital actually deploying across crypto and fintech right now?
Join Sophia Zhao (Partner at Alumni Ventures) and Martin from Milk Road for a live fireside conversation covering:
- Where capital is moving across blockchain and fintech
- What the next generation of blockchain companies are actually building
- How accredited investors can get exposure to private markets
The best part? It’s completely free to attend and takes just one hour.
