Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) Announces Earnings Results

Key Points

• Quarterly EPS beat expectations: Akamai reported $1.77 per share versus the $1.67 consensus, while revenue of $1.12 billion was in line with estimates and up 6.4% year over year.
• Full-year outlook is stronger than the near-term forecast: 2026 EPS guidance is $6.47–$6.68, but Q4 EPS guidance of $1.50–$1.70 is below analysts’ expectations; management cited about $30 million in revenue shifted from Q4 into 2027.
• Cloud infrastructure is a major growth opportunity: Akamai reported more than $14 billion in multi-year cloud infrastructure commitments, including an $11.6 billion Anthropic deal, and expects the segment’s revenue to more than double by 2027. Shares fell 9.4% on Thursday.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM - Get Free Report) posted its earnings results on Thursday. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.10, FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.12 billion. Akamai Technologies had a net margin of 9.51% and a return on equity of 11.32%. Akamai Technologies's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.86 earnings per share. Akamai Technologies updated its FY 2026 guidance to 6.470-6.680 EPS and its Q4 2026 guidance to 1.500-1.700 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from Akamai Technologies' conference call:

• Akamai reported more than $14 billion in multi-year Cloud Infrastructure Services commitments this year, including an $11.6 billion Anthropic deal. Management expects CIS revenue to more than double to $1.1 billion–$1.3 billion in 2027, helping drive company revenue growth of 17%–22% in constant currency; it expects revenue to exceed $7 billion in 2028.
• Supply-chain and third-party data-center delays are shifting about $30 million of revenue from Q4 into 2027, though management says the delays are resolved and do not reduce contract value. Q3 revenue grew 6%, but non-GAAP EPS fell 5% year over year, and Q4 EPS guidance is $1.50–$1.70.
• Management projects the large CIS contracts will generate about 75% adjusted EBITDA margins and 30% non-GAAP operating margins when fully ramped, with a 13% after-tax IRR and 15% average annual adjusted return on invested capital. However, Q4 CapEx is expected to reach $2.445 billion–$2.645 billion, including a planned $1.7 billion purchase of critical components, while build-out costs are expected to pressure margins in the near term.
• Security revenue grew 10% in constant currency, led by API Security and Guardicore, while delivery and other cloud applications declined 3%. Management described delivery as stabilizing but expects a mid-single-digit decline for full-year 2026; it expects continued security growth but did not provide longer-term segment guidance.

Akamai Technologies Stock Down 9.4%

Shares of AKAM traded down $8.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $77.84. 9,610,177 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,970,038. The company has a market cap of $11.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.00, a P/E/G ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.65. Akamai Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $71.93 and a fifty-two week high of $165.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. The stock's 50-day moving average is $102.11 and its 200-day moving average is $112.27.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on AKAM. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Akamai Technologies from $158.00 to $120.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Akamai Technologies from $140.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, September 25th. President Capital boosted their target price on Akamai Technologies from $150.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. Bank of America upped their price target on Akamai Technologies from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Akamai Technologies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Akamai Technologies currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $145.24.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kim Salem-Jackson sold 2,013 shares of Akamai Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.00, for a total value of $257,664.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 57,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,321,216. The trade was a 3.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Paul Joseph sold 3,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.63, for a total transaction of $327,453.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 28,472 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,007,497.36. The trade was a 9.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 12,135 shares of company stock valued at $1,467,221. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Akamai Technologies

Here are the key news stories impacting Akamai Technologies this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter EPS was $1.77, above the $1.67 analyst consensus. Full-year 2026 EPS guidance of $6.47–$6.68 also exceeds the $6.03 consensus. Akamai Q3 Earnings and Revenues
• Negative Sentiment: Fourth-quarter EPS guidance of $1.50–$1.70 has a midpoint below the $1.63 consensus. The $1.1–$1.2 billion revenue range also has a midpoint below analysts’ $1.2 billion estimate, raising concerns about near-term performance. Akamai quarterly results and guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Full-year revenue guidance of $4.4–$4.5 billion reaches, but does not exceed, the $4.5 billion consensus at its high end. Third-quarter EPS was also below the $1.86 reported a year earlier, despite beating estimates. Akamai Q3 key metrics

About Akamai Technologies

Akamai Technologies, Inc provides cloud, cybersecurity and content-delivery services that help organizations operate and protect applications, websites and digital media over the internet. Its distributed edge platform is designed to deliver online content closer to end users while improving performance, availability and resilience.

The company's services include content delivery and application performance solutions, cloud computing capabilities, web and application security, distributed denial-of-service protection, bot management and zero-trust security tools.

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