ChatGPT Stock Picks January 2026: What GPT-5.2 Actually Recommends
We asked GPT-5.2 for its top stock picks. Here's what ChatGPT recommends for 2026: Bitcoin miners, nuclear energy, gene editing, and more high-conviction bets with 320-350% five-year targets.
ChatGPT Stock Picks January 2026: What GPT-5.2 Actually Recommends
We regularly query leading AI models to see what they recommend when asked about investment opportunities. This month, we analyzed GPT-5.2-chat (the current ChatGPT model) to identify the stocks it consistently rates highest.
The pattern is clear: ChatGPT is extremely bullish on AI data center infrastructure, nuclear energy, and high-risk biotech—predicting 320-350% five-year returns across its top picks.
GPT-5.2’s Top 10 Stock Picks
Here’s what ChatGPT recommends when asked for high-conviction investment ideas, along with its predicted returns and reasoning:
| Ticker | Company | 1Y Return | 5Y Return | Bullishness | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CIFR | Cipher Mining | +60% | +350% | 65/100 | AI Data Centers |
| CORZ | Core Scientific | +60% | +350% | 72/100 | Bitcoin Mining / AI Data Centers |
| GLXY | Galaxy Digital | +60% | +350% | 72/100 | Crypto Asset Management |
| LEU | Centrus Energy | +35% | +350% | 72/100 | Nuclear Fuel |
| OUST | Ouster | +45% | +350% | 62/100 | Lidar / Autonomous Vehicles |
| PGY | Pagaya Technologies | +40% | +350% | 62/100 | AI Fintech |
| POET | POET Technologies | +40% | +350% | 62/100 | Photonic Semiconductors |
| PRME | Prime Medicine | +45% | +350% | 68/100 | Gene Editing |
| USAU | U.S. Gold Corp | +45% | +350% | 56/100 | Gold Mining |
| UUUU | Energy Fuels | +35% | +320% | 67/100 | Uranium Mining |
Note: All predictions are from GPT-5.2-chat queried in January 2026. These are AI-generated opinions, not financial advice.
Theme 1: AI Data Centers & Crypto Infrastructure
ChatGPT’s top picks include companies pivoting from Bitcoin mining to AI infrastructure—a major trend in 2025-2026.
CIFR (Cipher Mining) — +60% 1Y, +350% 5Y
“CIFR offers leveraged exposure to Bitcoin with improving balance sheet discipline, but remains highly cyclical, dilution-prone, and dependent on BTC price and energy costs.”
Important context: Cipher has pivoted significantly toward AI data centers, securing contracts with Google. While ChatGPT’s rationale focuses on Bitcoin exposure, the real story is CIFR’s transformation into an AI infrastructure play—similar to Core Scientific’s CoreWeave partnership.
CORZ (Core Scientific) — +60% 1Y, +350% 5Y
“CORZ offers leveraged upside to Bitcoin and AI data center demand via its CoreWeave partnership, but remains highly volatile with execution, dilution, and crypto-cycle risk.”
The CoreWeave AI hosting contract is a key differentiator here—ChatGPT recognizes the pivot from pure Bitcoin mining to AI infrastructure.
GLXY (Galaxy Digital) — +60% 1Y, +350% 5Y
“Galaxy offers leveraged exposure to crypto adoption via asset management, trading, and venture investments, but carries regulatory overhang and crypto-cycle volatility.”
Galaxy provides diversified crypto exposure through multiple business lines rather than pure mining.
How other models compare on these infrastructure plays:
| Model | CIFR 5Y | CORZ 5Y | GLXY 5Y |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPT-5.2-chat | +350% | +350% | +350% |
| Grok 4.1 | +350% | +400% | +350% |
| Gemini 3 Flash | +250% | +450% | +450% |
| Claude Sonnet 4.5 | +85% | +180% | +180% |
| DeepSeek V3.2 | +150% | +150% | +180% |
Claude is notably more conservative on these infrastructure plays, while Gemini and Grok are even more bullish than ChatGPT on some names.
Theme 2: Nuclear Renaissance
Two of ChatGPT’s picks target the uranium/nuclear fuel cycle—a sector that’s seen renewed interest amid AI data center power demands.
LEU (Centrus Energy) — +35% 1Y, +350% 5Y
“Centrus offers leveraged exposure to a nuclear power renaissance via scarce domestic HALEU enrichment capabilities, but carries execution risk on HALEU scale-up and contract concentration.”
LEU is the only U.S. company licensed to produce HALEU (High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium) needed for next-gen reactors. ChatGPT sees this as a critical chokepoint.
UUUU (Energy Fuels) — +35% 1Y, +320% 5Y
“UUUU offers high-beta leverage to a structurally improving uranium market and US domestic supply security premium, with optionality from rare earth processing.”
Energy Fuels combines uranium mining with rare earth element processing—a dual thesis on nuclear power and critical minerals.
Model consensus on nuclear plays:
| Model | LEU 5Y | UUUU 5Y |
|---|---|---|
| GPT-5.2-chat | +350% | +320% |
| Grok 4.1 | +350% | +250% |
| Gemini 3 Flash | +250% | +250% |
| Claude Sonnet 4.5 | +180% | +85% |
| DeepSeek V3.2 | +180% | +180% |
Strong consensus across models that nuclear has significant upside, though magnitude varies.
Theme 3: High-Risk Tech Bets
The remaining picks span lidar, AI fintech, photonics, and biotech—all early-stage companies with binary outcomes.
POET (POET Technologies) — +40% 1Y, +350% 5Y
“POET offers asymmetric upside from successful commercialization of its photonic interposer technology for AI/datacenter applications, but faces significant execution and funding risk.”
This is ChatGPT’s lowest-confidence pick (0.28), reflecting the speculative nature. POET’s photonic chips could be transformative for AI data centers—or the company could fail to commercialize.
PRME (Prime Medicine) — +45% 1Y, +350% 5Y
“Prime Medicine is a high-risk/high-reward early-stage gene-editing platform where clinical proof-of-concept could drive substantial revaluation.”
Gene editing remains one of ChatGPT’s favored biotech themes, with Prime Medicine offering a differentiated approach.
OUST (Ouster) — +45% 1Y, +350% 5Y
“Ouster is a high-volatility, capital-intensive lidar pure-play with improving revenue trajectory but facing commoditization pressure and cash burn.”
Lidar for autonomous vehicles and industrial applications. ChatGPT acknowledges the commoditization risk but sees long-term growth.
PGY (Pagaya Technologies) — +40% 1Y, +350% 5Y
“High-risk fintech with improving unit economics and AI-driven lending leverage, but carries credit cycle exposure and execution risk.”
AI-powered lending platform. ChatGPT likes the AI angle but notes cyclical risks.
The Outlier: Gold Mining
USAU (U.S. Gold Corp) — +45% 1Y, +350% 5Y
“USAU offers high-upside optionality to gold prices via a single-asset development-stage project, but carries significant dilution, permitting, and execution risk.”
ChatGPT’s lowest bullishness score (56/100) among its top picks. This is a speculative gold explorer rather than a producer—pure gold price optionality.
What This Tells Us About ChatGPT’s Biases
Several patterns emerge from GPT-5.2’s recommendations:
-
Extreme 5-year optimism: Nearly every pick has a +350% five-year target. This uniformity suggests ChatGPT may have learned to associate “high-conviction picks” with aggressive return estimates.
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Outdated narratives: ChatGPT’s rationale for CIFR focuses on Bitcoin mining, but the company has pivoted to AI data centers with Google contracts. This highlights how AI training data can lag real-world corporate pivots.
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Leverage preference: Most picks offer leveraged exposure to underlying trends (AI infrastructure, nuclear, gold) rather than direct plays. ChatGPT seems to favor operational leverage.
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Thematic concentration: AI/crypto infrastructure and nuclear dominate the list. ChatGPT appears to have strong convictions on these macro themes.
-
Moderate confidence: Confidence scores range from 0.28 to 0.64—ChatGPT acknowledges significant uncertainty in all these picks.
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Risk acknowledgment: Every rationale includes explicit risk callouts (dilution, execution, cyclicality). ChatGPT isn’t blindly bullish—it quantifies the risks.
How Other AI Models Differ
Not all AI models agree with ChatGPT. Here’s how the consensus varies:
Most bullish models overall:
- Grok 4.1: Consistently highest return predictions, especially on Bitcoin miners
- Gemini 3 Flash: Very bullish on CORZ (+450% 5Y) and GLXY (+450% 5Y)
Most conservative:
- Claude Sonnet 4.5: Significantly lower targets, negative on OUST (-75% 5Y), PGY (-65% 5Y), and POET (-65% 5Y)
- DeepSeek V3.2: Middle ground but still more conservative than GPT
Claude’s skepticism on names like POET and OUST is notable—it sees these as value traps rather than opportunities.
Should You Follow ChatGPT’s Stock Picks?
No. Here’s why:
- No track record: We don’t know if ChatGPT’s previous picks have outperformed
- Training data limitations: GPT-5.2’s knowledge has cutoffs and biases from its training data
- Self-fulfilling potential: If millions follow AI recommendations, that itself affects prices
- Uniform targets: The suspiciously similar 350% 5Y targets suggest algorithmic patterns rather than fundamental analysis
What this data IS useful for:
- Understanding what narratives AI models have absorbed
- Identifying stocks that AI might mention to retail investors
- Research starting points (not endpoints)
- Tracking how AI recommendations change over time
Explore These Stocks
Want to see how all AI models view these stocks? Check out our detailed analysis pages:
- CIFR - Cipher Mining
- CORZ - Core Scientific
- GLXY - Galaxy Digital
- LEU - Centrus Energy
- UUUU - Energy Fuels
Or compare any two assets: Compare Tool
Data collected January 2026. AI predictions are not financial advice. See our full disclaimer.
Research Disclaimer
This article is for research and educational purposes only. Nothing in this content constitutes financial advice. All data and analysis should be used for research purposes only. We make no warranties about the accuracy or reliability of the information provided. Use at your own risk.