Let’s make this interesting.
You have AED 100,000 to invest ONLY within UAE options:
DFM / ADX stocks
UAE real estate (fractional or full)
Bonds / fixed income
Gold
❌ No US stocks
❌ No crypto
Your goal:
Build the best possible portfolio for next 3–5 years
Example:
40% Emaar
30% DEWA
20% ETF / Bonds
10% Cash
I will share mine once we get 10 people response.
The headline EPS of $5.11 caught everyone's attention but honestly that's kind of a distraction — there was a big non-operating gain baked in there.
The number that actually matters is Google Cloud hitting $20 billion in quarterly revenue, up 63% year over year. But here's the part that gets interesting — operating income for Cloud was $6.6 billion. That's nearly 3x what it was a year ago.
Google Cloud was basically a money pit until like 2023. It was growing fast but burning cash, and most investors valued Alphabet as "Search + optionality." Cloud was a nice story but not something that moved the needle on earnings.
>Q1 2026 Cloud operating income: $6.6B Q1 2025 Cloud operating income: ~$2.2B That's a ~$4.4B swing in one year from a single segment
That $6.6B in operating profit is not a rounding error anymore. Its a legit second profit engine. And it's scaling with real operating leverage — revenue tripled in profit terms, not just in top line.
The way I think about it: Alphabet used to be a company where you were basically just buying Search ads. Everything else was a free option. Now Cloud is big enough and profitable enough that it actually changes your valuation math. If Cloud can keep compounding anywhere near this rate with margins expanding, the earnings mix gets way less dependent on one ad business.
The risk is capex. AI infrastructure is expensive and Google is spending aggressively. If growth slows before the capex pays off you've got a margin problem. But so far the numbers say the opposite — margins are expanding as revenue scales.
fwiw I think the market mostly gets this already, GOOGL has rerated a lot. But the speed of the Cloud profit ramp surprised me tbh.
I wrote up more details on the linked note if anyone wants to look at the other segments.
Hey everyone! I’m 33 and I’ve been seriously investing for the last 10 years across ETFs, factor funds, some real estate, and a very small amount of higher-risk assets.
Fortunate to be in a strong financial position for my age. (NW of ~600k USD with ~400k liquid).
I’m not a financial advisor, and I’m definitely not here to sell anything. I’m just someone who has spent a lot of time learning, making mistakes, staying invested, and trying to build wealth sustainably rather than chasing quick wins.
My approach with my portfolio is simple: invest consistently, stay diversified, avoid panic-selling, manage risk, and think in decades and not days.
Happy to answer questions on:
- Getting started with investing
- Building a long-term portfolio
- DCA vs lump sum investing
- Staying calm during market drops
- Taking risk without being reckless
- Investing while living outside your home country
- Balancing ETFs, real estate, cash, and speculative bets
I’ll share what has worked for me, what I’d do differently, and how I think about building wealth over the long term.
Everyone talks about winning stocks, but the best lessons usually come from mistakes.
It could be:
- Buying a stock purely because of hype
- Holding too long and missing the exit
- Ignoring diversification
- Choosing real estate at the wrong time
- Sitting in cash while markets rallied
For me, the most valuable insights often come from understanding why an investment thesis failed.
👉 What was your biggest investing mistake in UAE (DFM, ADX, real estate, or global investing from UAE)?
👉 What did you learn from it?
👉 What would you do differently today?
The goal is to help new investors avoid expensive lessons and build better long-term strategies.
Let’s join this community as will start writing some real research articles on UAE stocks.
We’ve been operating a healthy food concept through a third-party setup for some time and the response honestly pushed us toward officially launching our own operation in Business Bay Dubai.
Even with the current conflict/market uncertainty, demand for healthy delivery meals, subscriptions, and convenience-based food seems to be growing strongly in UAE.
Now we’re entering the final stage before launch and trying to make smart decisions around scaling, operations, and funding in the next few days.
Curious to hear from people who’ve built or scaled
F&B/delivery businesses here:
What would you prioritize first?
What mistakes should be avoided at launch stage?
Did you bootstrap or bring investors in early?
Open to hearing ideas, experiences, or different approaches from people in this space.
I’ll go first 👇
Age: 28
Salary: AED 18,000/month
Net Worth: ~AED 210,000
Breakdown:
• ETFs: 90k
• Crypto: 40k
• Savings: 60k
• Emergency fund: 20k
Goal: AED 1M by 35 💰
Curious where everyone stands in UAE 🇦🇪
No judgment — just real numbers.
👇 Drop yours (or vote anonymously):
I have identified a compelling opportunity in Dubai’s commercial real estate market, where investment cycles can range from just 3 to 5 months. With the right strategy and execution, there is strong potential to achieve returns that could double the initial investment within a short period.
Dubai continues to be one of the most dynamic and opportunity-rich real estate markets in the world. High demand, rapid development, and a business-friendly environment create ideal conditions for sourcing undervalued assets and turning them into profitable ventures.
My approach focuses on identifying strategic opportunities, optimizing asset value efficiently, and exiting at the right time to maximize returns. I am currently seeking a serious and forward-thinking investor to partner with and scale this model into a consistent, high-performing investment strategy.
In Dubai, opportunities are abundant—you just need the vision and the right partnership to capture them.
So this happened today and I'm still processing it.
I'm sitting at a C7 in Nagpur, working on my laptop like any other day. I look up for a second and realize the guy sitting at the table behind me is Ritesh Agarwal. Yes, THAT Ritesh Agarwal. The OYO guy.
For a moment, I just stared. Then I realized he was about to leave.
I've been building an AI learning platform for kids. We have early users, traction is slow but steady, and I'm trying to figure out how to scale globally from a tier 2 city in India.
I had two options:
so I chose option 2.
and this is what happened
As he was getting up to leave, I approached him. No rehearsed pitch, no formalities. Just straight up:
"Hi Ritesh, I'm building a Personalized AI learning platform for kids. We're based here in Nagpur and have early users. Would love to connect with you for mentorship on scaling this globally."
He stopped. Smiled. And said something I didn't expect:
"You're building this from Nagpur? That's really good."
We spoke for just a few minutes, but I could see it in his reaction,he was genuinely happy to see someone from a city like Nagpur working on a global startup.
We took a photo together (still feels surreal), exchanged a few more words, and that was it.
What I Learned:
For Anyone Wondering:
Yes, I've approached founders before,Jay Kotak, Nikhil Kamath, Nithin Kamath, Ashish Hemrajani,at events and random places. That confidence comes from just doing it once and realizing they're human too.
But this one felt different. Random coffee shop. No event. No crowd. Just two people talking about startups in a city that most people think is "too small" for this stuff.
My Advice if You Ever Get a Chance Like This:
I’ve been digging into Watania recently and wanted to get the community’s view.
Company: Watania International Holding (DFM: WATANIA)
Sector: Takaful (Islamic Insurance) + Investment Holding
📊 Key Numbers:
Revenue growth: +76% YoY
Net profit growth: +250%+ YoY
P/E ratio: ~4.6 (very low vs global peers)
Market cap: ~AED 150M (small cap)
🧠 My View:
This looks like a classic undervalued small-cap:
✔ Cheap on paper
✔ Strong recent growth
BUT…
❗ Could remain ignored for years due to low market interest
❗ Not a momentum stock
⚖️** The Real Question**:
👉 Is Watania a hidden gem before rerating
OR
👉 Just another value trap in DFM small caps?
💡 Bonus: Other UAE Stocks I’m Watching
Emaar → Real estate leader
DEWA → Stable dividend play
Salik → Monopoly-style toll revenue
Emirates NBD → Banking giant