New York, March 2, 2026, 10:03 ET — Regular session underway
- Microsoft shares picked up nearly 1% in morning trade, outperforming several other big-name tech stocks.
- Microsoft’s UAE investment plan is under the microscope as investors weigh it against heightened geopolitical and energy risks stemming from the Middle East conflict.
- Up next: Microsoft’s SharePoint event is set for later Monday, with its next earnings report landing in late April.
Shares of Microsoft climbed roughly 1.2% to $397.31 in Monday morning trading, swinging from $390.63 to $398.40 earlier in the session.
The stock’s caught between two typically opposing forces—a surge in demand for artificial-intelligence infrastructure, and a renewed spike in geopolitical tension that’s driving up energy prices.
For Microsoft, this is a big deal: AI workloads devour compute, and the engines behind it all—data centers—require real estate, semiconductors, and plenty of power. If energy becomes pricier or political hurdles pile up, what once looked like a “growth” play can swiftly morph into a drag on margins.
Microsoft plans to pour $15.2 billion into the United Arab Emirates from 2023 to 2029, citing its AI tie-up with Abu Dhabi’s G42 as the catalyst. Of that, $7.3 billion has already been deployed — $1.5 billion went to a G42 stake, with over $4.6 billion funneled into AI and cloud data centers. Microsoft’s mapped out more than $7.9 billion in additional spending in the UAE between 2026 and 2029. Amazon, Google, and Oracle have each outlined their own multi-billion-dollar ambitions for regional cloud and AI infrastructure.
Oil and gas shot higher following U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, with Tehran’s response hampering key Middle East infrastructure and shipping lanes. “The latest move reflects uncertainty around the scale and duration of the current conflict,” said James Hosie at Shore Capital. Reuters
AI sector players are reshuffling their strategies after OpenAI disclosed a $110 billion funding round led by Amazon, with Nvidia and SoftBank on board. Amazon Web Services lands the role of exclusive third-party cloud distributor for OpenAI Frontier, the company’s enterprise AI agent platform. OpenAI emphasized the new capital and partners don’t “in any way” alter its Microsoft relationship. CEO Sam Altman described the moves as reinforcing OpenAI’s “infrastructure” and giving its balance sheet a boost. AP News
So Microsoft finds itself in a spot it knows well—vital for enterprise AI, but always in the crosshairs when investors start questioning whether the cloud’s next chapter justifies the price tags they’ve slapped on it.
Still, there’s risk on both sides. If the conflict drags on, project timelines might slip and supply chains could get squeezed. Higher power prices sticking around would mean it gets more expensive to operate the same data centers Microsoft needs for its AI ambitions.
One thing on traders’ radar: Microsoft has a “SharePoint at 25” digital event slated for later Monday, where it plans to highlight new content AI features and run a live Q&A with the team behind the product. Microsoft Adoption
The next big catalyst: earnings. Microsoft drops numbers April 28. Azure’s growth, plus what they’re shelling out on capital projects, will be under the microscope as investors try to gauge if the AI push is delivering returns yet.
