NEW YORK, February 28, 2026, 10:02 AM EST — The market isn’t open.
- Microsoft ended Friday off 2.24%, closing at $392.74.
- OpenAI is seeking $110 billion in new funding, and with Amazon cutting a new cloud deal, Microsoft’s tie-up on AI is drawing scrutiny again.
- Up ahead: U.S. jobs numbers land March 6, followed by the Fed’s March 17-18 meeting. Rate wagers continue to move big-tech valuations.
Microsoft gave up 2.24% Friday to close at $392.74, erasing part of its recent bounce and dipping beneath $400 again as fresh developments at OpenAI and a wider tech slump hung over the stock. In after-hours moves, shares barely budged, changing hands at $394.17. 1
U.S. markets are closed Saturday, so attention turns to Monday: Will megacap tech see more selling, or does February’s choppy action—especially the rout in packed “AI winner” names—set up for a reversal?
Microsoft’s fortunes in AI are deeply linked to OpenAI and Azure, its cloud business. If OpenAI moves workloads elsewhere or brings in new partners, that could shake up investor expectations for cloud growth and cast new light on Microsoft’s hefty AI infrastructure bets.
OpenAI on Friday said it’s pulling in $110 billion in fresh funding, pushing its valuation to $840 billion. Amazon is putting up $50 billion, with both SoftBank and Nvidia chipping in $30 billion each. As part of the deal, OpenAI will get access to 2 gigawatts of compute built on Amazon’s Trainium chips. Amazon Web Services lands the role of exclusive third-party cloud provider for OpenAI’s Frontier enterprise platform, but Microsoft’s Azure will continue as the sole cloud provider for OpenAI’s APIs. 2
Microsoft and OpenAI pushed back fast against the chatter. “Our commercial and revenue share relationship remains unchanged,” both companies said, issuing a joint statement. They reiterated that Azure “remains the exclusive cloud provider” for OpenAI APIs—those interfaces that plug OpenAI models into customer apps. 3
Risk assets took a hit Friday, with all three big U.S. indexes closing in the red. Traders pulled back on short-term Fed rate cut bets after the Producer Price Index came in stronger than forecasts. “To wrap up the month of February, we were reminded there are still some cracks out there,” said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group. 4
Microsoft heads into next week still facing regulatory pressure. On February 25, Japan’s Fair Trade Commission raided the company’s local unit, investigating if Azure’s business tactics might have limited customers’ options for rival cloud providers. Microsoft Japan says it’s cooperating with the authorities. 5
Still, OpenAI’s statement hasn’t fully calmed the market. Some investors remain skittish about Microsoft’s AI expenses, especially after the last quarterly report showed record outlays alongside cooling cloud growth—a combination that’s left the stock jumpy to any sign the AI math might be changing. 6
MSFT players are eyeing two key triggers: macro data and Fed talk. First up, the U.S. February jobs report drops March 6 at 8:30 a.m. ET. After that, the Fed convenes on March 17-18. Both could jolt rate bets and, by extension, big-tech valuations. 7
