New York, Feb 26, 2026, 10:53 EST — Regular session
Amazon.com dropped $2.86, or 1.4%, to $207.81 during Thursday’s morning session. Shares started out at $210.63 and bounced within a $206.96 to $211.04 range. On Wednesday, the stock finished at $210.67. markets.businessinsider.com
Traders digested a report suggesting Amazon might cut a hefty check to OpenAI, once again raising the old question dogging Big Tech’s AI bets: just how quickly do the returns roll in?
Amazon’s stock is moving these days on AI bets as much as its retail side. Earlier this month, Amazon laid out capital spending plans near $200 billion for 2026—nearly all of it earmarked for AI infrastructure. Investors have been eyeing that number closely, weighing the spending spree against short-term cash flow. Reuters
Amazon may be ready to put up as much as $50 billion into OpenAI, but The Information says the deal could depend on OpenAI going public or achieving what’s called “artificial general intelligence”—AI that rivals humans at a broad set of tasks. According to the report, $15 billion would come in upfront, with another $35 billion riding on those milestones. SoftBank and Nvidia are also expected in the mix. Reuters hasn’t independently confirmed the story. Reuters
Bank of America’s Justin Post stuck with his Buy call and $275 target on Amazon shares this Wednesday. Post sees extra cloud capacity and better AI deal flow as potential boosts for AWS sentiment. He noted Amazon’s update: “AWS added 3.9 gigawatts in 2025 alone, with plans to double capacity again by 2027.” Still, he flagged the risk that a ramped-up capex cycle across the sector might push construction costs higher. Investing.com
AWS is putting up as much as $100 million in credits and technical expertise through 2029 as part of its Education Equity Initiative, the company said, with the goal of supporting groups developing digital learning products powered by cloud and AI. Code.org’s Chief Product Officer Karim Meghji pointed to the program’s impact, noting an AI teaching assistant—built with AWS’s backing—that cut the time teachers spend grading coding projects by up to 50%. That’s according to AWS. Amazon Web Services, Inc.
Amazon says it will join a White House gathering on March 4, where the company expects to sign on to a “Ratepayer Protection Pledge” aimed at tackling the surge in electricity prices caused by the boom in data centers. But Ari Peskoe, who leads the Electricity Law Initiative at Harvard Law School, called the pledge “meaningless” without utilities submitting contracts that actually shift data-center costs onto the operations themselves. Reuters
Still, the risks for the stock remain. California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta is pushing a judge to halt what he describes as Amazon’s moves to keep merchants from listing cheaper prices elsewhere, and wants a court monitor on top. Amazon dismissed the move as a “transparent attempt to distract.” Over in Britain, the company failed to overturn approval for two class actions worth as much as 4 billion pounds. Meanwhile, in Spain, regulators said both Apple and Amazon dragged their feet in scrapping anti-competitive terms—a decision that could pile on another fine. Reuters
Amazon’s decline came as other tech giants stumbled, too. Nvidia slumped hard, pulling the Nasdaq into the red right after the open. The S&P 500 was off roughly 0.7%, while the Nasdaq dropped around 1.4%, AP reported. AP News
Attention now shifts to Friday’s U.S. producer price index for January, a gauge of wholesale inflation, with the February jobs report slated for March 6—both seen as critical for rate forecasts. Traders are also on alert for fresh signals, pushback, or specifics about the reported OpenAI discussions. bls.gov
