New York, March 3, 2026, 08:12 EST — Premarket
- Amazon shares slipped premarket after AWS pointed to drone strikes in Bahrain and the UAE.
- Tech stocks slipped as oil surged, with traders on edge about mounting inflation pressures.
- Investors are eyeing AWS service updates, as well as Friday’s U.S. jobs report.
Amazon.com (AMZN.O) slipped 0.8% to $208.39 ahead of the bell Tuesday, following news that drone strikes hit its cloud unit’s sites in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Shares closed at $210.16 on Monday. 1
This is significant. AWS sits at the core of Amazon’s profit story, playing a critical role in shaping how investors see the company’s worth. Brief hiccups are enough to unsettle clients—especially those handling payments, logistics, or AI in the cloud.
The launch drops into a market already taking a defensive posture. Megacap tech names have been under pressure, with traders unloading shares on fears that rising energy costs might stoke inflation again and force rates to stay elevated longer.
Nasdaq 100 futures slid roughly 2.3% as worries over the Middle East reignited concerns around oil and shipping. “Much will depend on the price of oil,” wrote Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid. “Any sustained spike would undoubtedly trigger a more meaningful risk-off move.” 2
AWS reported Sunday that its UAE data center lost power for a time when debris hit the site, causing sparks and a fire. Connectivity could stay down for several hours in one impacted “Availability Zone,” the company said. These zones, by design, separate clusters of data centers to help contain outages. 3
Monday brought fresh complications for Amazon’s regional business. The company shut down fulfillment center operations in Abu Dhabi, halted deliveries throughout the area and, according to an internal memo seen by Business Insider, instructed staff in Saudi Arabia and Jordan to stay inside. 4
The flare-up has tech players reassessing just how vulnerable their Gulf expansion really is. Attracted by the promise of cheap energy and deep-pocketed governments, foreign investment has flooded in. AWS is on track to pump more than $5.3 billion into a fresh data-center region in Saudi Arabia by 2026. The company isn’t alone—Microsoft and Alphabet’s Google Cloud have also announced major regional projects. 5
Outside the conflict, Amazon on Monday announced plans to pour another 18 billion euros ($21 billion) into Spain, targeting new data centers and AI development. This latest round lifts the company’s total investment in the country to 33.7 billion euros. “With this investment, we make Spain the AI epicentre of our operations in Europe,” said David Zapolsky, chief global affairs and legal officer. 6
Amazon Data Services has struck a $427 million deal to buy George Washington University’s Virginia Science and Technology campus, according to the university. The move is part of Amazon’s push to expand its data-center footprint as demand for AI climbs. GW’s campus newspaper reported that Amazon now holds the deed and can build a data or IT center at the Ashburn, Virginia site. Amazon declined to comment when asked. 7
That wave of spending hasn’t gone unnoticed by investors, who have been eyeing Amazon’s ability to generate cash in the short run. The company is looking at capital expenditures of roughly $200 billion in 2026, up from $131 billion in 2025—a surge that rattled the stock earlier this year. 8
Two major risks are front and center: AWS could face lingering fallout if the cloud outage drags on, putting a dent in its standing across a region where data center investment is booming. Then there’s the threat of a sharper selloff if oil prices keep surging. Both scenarios give traders a reason to keep pressure on the stock, regardless of whether the immediate financial impact turns out to be limited.
In the run-up to the U.S. session, eyes are on any fresh developments from AWS as it works to resolve its service issues. Oil’s direction is in focus, and traders are looking to see if the slide in tech shares will finally pause. The big data point comes Friday: the February U.S. jobs report lands at 8:30 a.m. ET. 9
