AKAM Software - Infrastructure
Akamai Technologies, Inc.
Akamai runs one of the most widely distributed computing networks on the internet — more than 4,300 edge points of presence in over 130 countries — and sells three things on top of it: security (web application firewalls, bot and DDoS protection, API security, zero trust), content and media delivery, and cloud computing. FY2025 revenue was $4.2 billion (+5%): security grew 10% to $2.2 billion and cloud computing 12% to $708 million, while the older delivery business shrank 5%. In September 2026 Akamai disclosed that Anthropic had committed to pay about $11.6 billion over seven-year terms for dedicated cloud computing capacity.
Last updated
Analysis last edited: October 4, 2026 · Financial data fetched: October 4, 2026 14:11 (SEC EDGAR) · Source 10-K filed: February 20, 2026
Next update expectedAfter FY2026’s 10-K is filed (roughly 60–90 days after fiscal year end (sooner for larger filers)), financials and analysis will be refreshed.
01
Company profile
- Legal name
- AKAMAI TECHNOLOGIES INC
- Headquarters
- CAMBRIDGE, MA
- Incorporated in
- Delaware
- Fiscal year end
- 12/31
- Exchange & ticker
- NASDAQ: AKAM
- Industry
- Software - Infrastructure
- CIK
- 1086222
- Website
- https://www.akamai.com/ ↗
- IR page
- https://www.ir.akamai.com/ ↗
Workforce (as of FY2025 year-end)
Employees
11,000
Source: Form 10-K (FY2025) cover page and business description
02
Earnings calendar
When the company reports each quarter: the quarter-end date, the day results were released, and when the 10-Q or 10-K was filed.
Next report
Q3 FY2026
Quarter end: September 2026. In past years, Q3 results were released 37–38 days after quarter end (Nov 6, 2025; Nov 7, 2024; Nov 7, 2023). No date has been announced in the sources this site uses.
Reporting pattern
- Fiscal year ends around December 31.
- Reports four times a year: three quarterly reports (10-Q) and an annual report (10-K) for Q4.
- Earnings releases came 37–51 days after quarter end over the last 12 quarters.
| Quarter | Quarter ended | Earnings release (8-K) | Report filed (10-Q / 10-K) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q2 FY2026 | Jun 30, 2026 | Aug 6, 2026 (+37 days) | Aug 7, 2026 10-Q (+38 days) |
| Q1 FY2026 | Mar 31, 2026 | May 7, 2026 (+37 days) | May 8, 2026 10-Q (+38 days) |
| Q4 FY2025 | Dec 31, 2025 | Feb 19, 2026 (+50 days) | Feb 20, 2026 10-K (+51 days) |
| Q3 FY2025 | Sep 30, 2025 | Nov 6, 2025 (+37 days) | Nov 7, 2025 10-Q (+38 days) |
| Q2 FY2025 | Jun 30, 2025 | Aug 7, 2025 (+38 days) | Aug 8, 2025 10-Q (+39 days) |
| Q1 FY2025 | Mar 31, 2025 | May 8, 2025 (+38 days) | May 9, 2025 10-Q (+39 days) |
| Q4 FY2024 | Dec 31, 2024 | Feb 20, 2025 (+51 days) | Feb 24, 2025 10-K (+55 days) |
| Q3 FY2024 | Sep 30, 2024 | Nov 7, 2024 (+38 days) | Nov 8, 2024 10-Q (+39 days) |
| Q2 FY2024 | Jun 30, 2024 | Aug 8, 2024 (+39 days) | Aug 8, 2024 10-Q (+39 days) |
| Q1 FY2024 | Mar 31, 2024 | May 9, 2024 (+39 days) | May 9, 2024 10-Q (+39 days) |
| Q4 FY2023 | Dec 31, 2023 | Feb 13, 2024 (+44 days) | Feb 28, 2024 10-K (+59 days) |
| Q3 FY2023 | Sep 30, 2023 | Nov 7, 2023 (+38 days) | Nov 8, 2023 10-Q (+39 days) |
Source: SEC EDGAR filing history. Release dates are the dates the earnings release was furnished to the SEC on Form 8-K (Item 2.02), which is normally the day results are announced. Fiscal years are labeled by the calendar year in which they end.
03
Flagship products & services
Security
App & API Protector, Bot Manager, API Security
Examples: WAF, DDoS protection, Firewall for AI
Application, API, and network protection.
Security
Akamai Guardicore Platform
Examples: Microsegmentation, Zero Trust Network Access
Zero Trust security for corporate networks.
Cloud computing
Cloud Infrastructure Services
Examples: Compute, storage, EdgeWorkers, Akamai App Platform, Akamai Inference Cloud
Distributed cloud for low-latency and AI inference workloads.
Delivery
Media and web delivery
Examples: Video streaming, game and software delivery, site acceleration
The original CDN business.
Product descriptions are from the FY2025 Form 10-K's Item 1.
04
Recent strategic focus
FY2025 developments from the 10-K, and 2026 agreements from 8-Ks.
Anthropic commitment
On September 18, 2026, Akamai and Anthropic signed two project plans worth about $11.6B over seven-year terms for dedicated cloud computing capacity, with a performance-linked warrant to Anthropic.
Source: 8-K filed 2026-09-24
Financing
Akamai issued $3.5B of 0% convertible senior notes due 2030 and 2032 in May 2026, after $1.725B of notes due 2033 in May 2025.
Source: 8-K filed 2026-05-22; Form 10-K (FY2025) MD&A
AI at the edge
Akamai launched Akamai Inference Cloud and Firewall for AI in 2025 and bought Fermyon to deepen its edge functions platform.
Source: Form 10-K (FY2025) Item 1
Capex ÷ D&A (FY2025)
0.72x
Below depreciation — investment is being pared back
formulacapital expenditures ÷ depreciation & amortization
e.g.$508M ÷ $709M = 0.72x
termsCapital expenditures (capex) · Depreciation & amortization (D&A)
R&D-to-revenue ratio (FY2025)
12.2%
formularesearch & development expense ÷ revenue × 100
e.g.$514M ÷ $4,208M × 100 = 12.2%
M&A spend (5-year total)
$2.07B
Latest year: $55M
Cash-flow-statement spending on acquisitions, net of cash acquired
Where the money goes, over time
Unit: $M. Capex went from $329M in FY2021 to $508M in FY2025
- Capex
- R&D
- M&A spend
formulacapital expenditures ÷ depreciation & amortization
termsCapital expenditures (capex) · Depreciation & amortization (D&A)
Source: each period's Form 10-K (SEC EDGAR). Latest: filed 2026-02-20
05
Key figures at a glance
FY2021–FY2025, 5 years.
Revenue (FY2025)
$4.21B
As reported in the 10-K
Revenue CAGR (4 years)
+5.0%▲favorable
formula(last-period revenue ÷ first-period revenue) ^ (1 ÷ years) − 1
e.g.($4,208M ÷ $3,461M) ^ (1÷4) − 1 = 5.0%
termsCAGR · ^ (exponent) · Revenue (net sales)
Operating margin (FY2025)
13.5%▼caution
-9.2pt vs. 4 years ago
formulaoperating income ÷ revenue × 100
e.g.$567M ÷ $4,208M × 100 = 13.5%
ROE (FY2025)
9.2%▲favorable
5-year average: 11.6%
As reported in the 10-K
P/B (FY2025 end)
2.54x
formulaP/E × EPS ÷ BVPS (= period-end share price ÷ book value per share)
e.g.28.4x × $3.07 ÷ $34.40 = 2.54x
Period-end (fiscal year-end) value, not today's P/B
EV/EBITDA (FY2025 end)
12.6x
formula(market cap + interest-bearing debt − cash and equivalents) ÷ (operating income + depreciation & amortization)
e.g.($12,847M + $4,105M − $930M) ÷ ($567M + $709M) = 12.6x
termsEV/EBITDA · Market capitalization · Interest-bearing debt · EBITDA · Depreciation & amortization (D&A)
Period-end (fiscal year-end) value, not today's multiple
- ▲
Revenue grew +5.0% a year over 4 years (strong growth)
From $3.46B in FY2021 to $4.21B in FY2025. The annualized rate (CAGR) makes it possible to compare growth pace across companies of different sizes.
- ▼
Operating margin declined: 22.6% → 13.5%
How much operating profit is left per $100 of revenue. It moved -9.2 points over 4 years — pricing power, cost control, and product mix all show up here.
- ―
Equity ratio is 43.4% (a middling level)
The share of total assets funded by equity rather than debt. 50%+ is often read as low bankruptcy risk, though the right level varies by industry (real estate and leasing run lower, for instance).
- ▲
Free cash flow was positive in 5 of 5 years
Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures: the cash left over after funding the business’s own investment, available for dividends, buybacks, acquisitions, or debt paydown. A negative year can mean heavy investment, or weak core earnings — worth distinguishing.
- ▲
ROE averaged 11.6% over 5 years (latest: 9.2%)
How much profit was generated on shareholders’ equity. Roughly 10%+ is often cited as solid for a U.S. company, though this varies a lot by industry and capital intensity.
06
Business model
Security
Application and API protection (web application firewall, bot management, DDoS and DNS security, API security from the Neosec and Noname acquisitions) and Zero Trust network security (the Guardicore microsegmentation platform).
01 what it draws on
Inputs & resources
- Visibility into internet traffic and attack patterns from Akamai's network
- Security research and operations teams
02 what it does
Activities
- Blocking attacks on websites, APIs, and apps
- Segmenting corporate networks
03 who it serves
Customers
- Enterprises and government agencies
04 how money comes in
How it earns
- Subscriptions and usage-based contracts
Security: how it makes money
- Revenue $2.24B in FY2025, up 10%, now 53% of the total.
- Launched Firewall for AI in 2025 to protect AI applications and LLMs.
Delivery
Web and mobile performance and media delivery — streaming video, game and software downloads — over Akamai's distributed network.
01 what it draws on
Inputs & resources
- Edge servers and network partnerships
02 what it does
Activities
- Caching and delivering content close to users
03 who it serves
Customers
- Media, gaming, software, and e-commerce companies
04 how money comes in
How it earns
- Traffic-based contracts
Delivery: how it makes money
- Revenue $1.26B in FY2025, down 5%, because of lower pricing on contract renewals and customers' cost optimization.
- Customer contracts bought from Edgio (2024), Lumen, and StackPath (2023) helped delivery revenue.
Cloud computing
Cloud Infrastructure Services (compute, storage, networking, serverless edge functions) and other cloud applications, plus the Akamai Inference Cloud for running AI inference near users.
01 what it draws on
Inputs & resources
- Core and distributed compute sites
- NVIDIA GPUs
- Hardware from contract manufacturers
02 what it does
Activities
- Renting compute and storage
- Dedicated capacity for large customers
03 who it serves
Customers
- Developers and enterprises, and from 2026 Anthropic under a dedicated-capacity agreement
04 how money comes in
How it earns
- Usage and committed contracts
Cloud computing: how it makes money
- Revenue $708M in FY2025, up 12%.
- Akamai acquired Fermyon (serverless WebAssembly) in November 2025.
- Anthropic's ~$11.6B commitment (September 2026) is for dedicated cloud computing capacity.
Revenue by segment (FY2025)
Unit: $M — bar length = revenue, (%) = share of total company revenue
Security
2,243 (53%)Delivery
1,257 (30%)Cloud computing
708 (17%)
Source: Form 10-K (FY2025) — MD&A, revenue by solution Akamai reports a single segment; this is revenue by solution category. Profit isn't disclosed by solution.
07
Where it earns
Many U.S.-listed companies earn most of their revenue outside the U.S. — this breaks down revenue by country/region so it's clear where the business actually makes its money.
Largest market (FY2025)
United States — 51% of revenue
Revenue by country / region (FY2025)
Unit: $M — bar length = revenue, (%) = share of total company revenue
United States
2,139 (51%)International
2,069 (49%)
Source: Form 10-K (FY2025) — Note on revenue by geography International revenue grew 8% in 2025, U.S. revenue 3%.
08
Contract structure
Short-term or spot sales carry different earnings quality than long-term or auto-renewing contracts — this shows how the company actually contracts with its customers.
Akamai sells mostly under contracts with terms of one year or longer, which the proxy says gives it a relatively consistent base of revenue. No customer accounted for 10% or more of revenue in 2023–2025. The Anthropic agreements, disclosed after year-end, are much larger and longer than a typical contract.
- Annual contract
Security, delivery, and cloud contracts
Nearly all of FY2025 revenue ($4.2B)
Typical term: Terms of one year or longer
Delivery renewals have come with lower pricing.
- Multi-year / recurring
Anthropic dedicated cloud capacity (Project Plans 2 and 3)
About $11.6B committed in aggregate
Typical term: Seven-year initial terms from each service start date
Subject to delivery and service availability requirements; Anthropic may terminate a project plan after a material outage, or the MSA on a change of control to a direct competitor of Anthropic.
Source: Form 8-K (filed 2026-09-24) — Anthropic MSA, warrant, Jabil and Lenovo agreements
09
Alliances & capital ties
Equity stakes, joint ventures, and strategic partnerships disclosed across the 10-K, 8-Ks, and proxy statement.
Business partnership
Anthropic
Under a master services agreement dated May 5, 2026, Akamai provides Anthropic with dedicated cloud computing capacity; two project plans signed September 18, 2026 carry about $11.6B of committed payments over seven-year terms. Akamai also issued Anthropic a warrant for non-voting preferred stock convertible into up to 7,741,020 common shares, vesting as Anthropic makes its first payment and commits additional contract value in $3.0B steps.
Source: Form 8-K (filed 2026-09-24) — Anthropic MSA, warrant, Jabil and Lenovo agreements
Supply / distribution agreement
Jabil
Contract manufacturer of Akamai's customized server hardware since 2019; in September 2026 Akamai authorized Jabil to buy about $1.7B of memory components on its behalf.
Source: Form 8-K (filed 2026-09-24) — Anthropic MSA, warrant, Jabil and Lenovo agreements
Supply / distribution agreement
Lenovo
A master product and services agreement signed September 23, 2026 (three-year initial term, seven-year first statement of work) under which Lenovo supplies hardware, software, and services.
Source: Form 8-K (filed 2026-09-24) — Anthropic MSA, warrant, Jabil and Lenovo agreements
10
Customers & suppliers
Who the company sells to and buys from. Companies rarely name either, so named counterparties come only from the company's own filings and press releases; otherwise this lists the concentration figures the 10-K discloses.
Customers
Enterprises across media, retail, finance, gaming, and technology, plus government agencies; sold directly and through channel partners.
Named by the company
- Anthropic — Committed about $11.6B for dedicated cloud computing capacity under project plans signed September 2026.Form 8-K (filed 2026-09-24) — Anthropic MSA, warrant, Jabil and Lenovo agreements
- Named enterprise customers — adidas, Adobe, Aflac, Airbnb, Autodesk, eBay, Electronic Arts, Honda, Japan Airlines, Marriott, NBCUniversal, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Spotify, and others; U.S. Departments of Defense, Labor, Transportation, and the Treasury.Form 10-K (FY2025) — Item 1, Customers
What the filings disclose
- No customer accounted for 10% or more of revenue in 2023, 2024, or 2025. (Form 10-K (FY2025), Item 1)
Suppliers
Server hardware makers, network partners that host Akamai's edge servers, and GPU suppliers.
Named by the company
- Jabil — Contract manufacturer of customized server hardware; authorized to buy about $1.7B of memory components for Akamai in September 2026.Form 8-K (filed 2026-09-24) — Anthropic MSA, warrant, Jabil and Lenovo agreements
- Lenovo — Hardware, software, and services under an agreement signed September 2026.Form 8-K (filed 2026-09-24) — Anthropic MSA, warrant, Jabil and Lenovo agreements
- NVIDIA — Akamai added NVIDIA GPUs to its cloud platform and uses NVIDIA architectures in Akamai Inference Cloud.Form 10-K (FY2025) — Item 1
What the filings disclose
- Akamai's network integrates with roughly 1,200 network partners. (Form 10-K (FY2025), Item 1)
11
Competitors & peers
Competitors the 10-K names, and the peer group the company itself chose in its proxy statement. Nothing here is this site's own pick.
Akamai's 10-K says it competes with companies offering content delivery and hosting, security, and cloud computing, carrier efficiency technology, streaming delivery, and equipment such as load balancers, and with customers building their own solutions. It competes on performance, reliability, network scale, security, and price. No company is named.
Competitors named in the 10-K
Akamai's 10-K doesn't name competitors.
Peer group the company chose
2025 benchmarking peer group, from the proxy statement. Peers are companies the board considers comparable — for example when setting executive pay — not necessarily direct competitors.
Chosen to reflect Akamai's competitors for executive talent, business, and capital, of similar revenue and market value. Akamai also uses a separate design reference group of much larger companies (Adobe, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Cisco, Cloudflare, DigitalOcean, Meta, Microsoft, Netflix, Oracle, Salesforce, Zscaler) that it says pose the greatest challenges in competing for talent.
- Autodesksite ↗
- Cienasite ↗
- CrowdStrikesite ↗
- Dynatracesite ↗
- F5site ↗
- Fortinetsite ↗
- Gen Digitalsite ↗
- HubSpotsite ↗
- IACsite ↗
- Juniper Networkssite ↗
- Nutanixsite ↗
- Oktasite ↗
- Palo Alto Networkssite ↗
- PTCsite ↗
- VeriSignsite ↗
- Cloudflaresite ↗
- OpenTextsite ↗
- Twiliosite ↗
- Zscalersite ↗
For 2026, Juniper (acquired) and Autodesk were removed, and Logitech and NetApp were added.
Source: Proxy statement (DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-31) — How We Select and Use Peer Groups (peer group graphic)Company names link to this site’s analysis where one exists; “site ↗” opens the company’s own website.
12
M&A history
Companies acquired over the last five years, plus older large acquisitions that still anchor a current business — what each was bought to do, and what happened afterward. From the 10-K, 8-Ks, and the company's press releases.
Akamai buys companies to add security and cloud capabilities, and buys customer contracts from exiting delivery providers.
Cash spent on acquisitions, FY2021–FY2025: $2.07B
Nov 2025
Fermyon Technologies
Not disclosed in the 10-K
A serverless WebAssembly company.
- Stated purpose (company)
- To deepen integration between the edge functions platform and Akamai's performance and security products.
Dec 2024
Customer contracts from Edgio (bankruptcy process)
Not disclosed in the 10-K
Delivery customer contracts.
- Stated purpose (company)
- To strengthen delivery and other businesses as the customers move to Akamai's platform.
Source: Form 10-K (FY2025) — MD&A
Jun 2024
Noname Security
Not disclosed in the sections reviewed
An API security vendor; added about 200 employees.
- Stated purpose (company)
- To enhance Akamai's API Security solution and accelerate meeting customer demand.
2023
Neosec; customer contracts from Lumen and StackPath
Not disclosed in the sections reviewed
API security (Neosec) and delivery customer contracts.
- Stated purpose (company)
- Neosec enabled Akamai's API Security offering; the contracts strengthened delivery.
The 10-K says revenue and earnings from these acquisitions weren't material.
13
Five years of financials
Each chart's axis holds a single unit (never mixing dollars, %, and $/share). The table's per-period header links to the filing the numbers came from.
Revenue over time
Unit: $M
Source: each period's Form 10-K (SEC EDGAR). Latest: filed 2026-02-20
Profit over time (operating → net)
Unit: $M
- Operating income
- Pretax income
- Net income
Source: each period's Form 10-K (SEC EDGAR). Latest: filed 2026-02-20
Margins over time
Unit: %
- Operating margin
- Net margin
formulaoperating income ÷ revenue × 100
formulanet income attributable to the company ÷ revenue × 100
Cash flow over time
Unit: $M (below zero = cash went out)
- Operating CF
- Investing CF
- Free CF
formulacash flow from operations − capital expenditures
termsFree cash flow (FCF) · Cash flow from operations (operating CF) · Capital expenditures (capex)
Source: each period's Form 10-K (SEC EDGAR). Latest: filed 2026-02-20
Financial stability & capital efficiency
Unit: %
- Equity ratio
- ROE
formulatotal equity ÷ total assets × 100 (as reported in the 10-K)
termsStockholders’ equity · Total assets
formulanet income ÷ average equity (beginning + ending, ÷2) × 100 (as reported in the 10-K)
termsNet income (attributable to the company) · Stockholders’ equity
Earnings per share (EPS) and dividend per share
Unit: $
- EPS
Source: each period's Form 10-K (SEC EDGAR). Latest: filed 2026-02-20
| Line item | FY202110-K on EDGAR ↗ | FY202210-K on EDGAR ↗ | FY202310-K on EDGAR ↗ | FY202410-K on EDGAR ↗ | FY202510-K on EDGAR ↗ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement ($M) | |||||
| Revenue | 3,461 | 3,617 | 3,812 | 3,991 | 4,208 |
| Operating income | 783 | 676 | 637 | 533 | 567 |
| Pretax income | 728 | 658 | 653 | 587 | 602 |
| Net income (attributable) | 652 | 524 | 548 | 505 | 452 |
| Revenue growthcalc(this year’s revenue − last year’s revenue) ÷ last year’s revenue × 100 | — | 4.5% | 5.4% | 4.7% | 5.4% |
| Operating margincalcoperating income ÷ revenue × 100 | 22.6% | 18.7% | 16.7% | 13.4% | 13.5% |
| Net margincalcnet income attributable to the company ÷ revenue × 100 | 18.8% | 14.5% | 14.4% | 12.7% | 10.7% |
| Balance sheet ($M) | |||||
| Total assets | 8,139 | 8,303 | 9,900 | 10,369 | 11,480 |
| Total equity | 4,530 | 4,360 | 4,597 | 4,878 | 4,977 |
| Interest-bearing debtSum of short- and long-term borrowings, notes/bonds payable | 1,976 | 2,285 | 3,538 | 3,546 | 4,105 |
| Equity ratio | 55.7% | 52.5% | 46.4% | 47.0% | 43.4% |
| ROE | 14.4% | 11.8% | 12.2% | 10.7% | 9.2% |
| Cash flow ($M) | |||||
| Operating CF | 1,405 | 1,275 | 1,348 | 1,519 | 1,519 |
| Investing CF | -647 | -622 | -1,848 | -799 | -541 |
| Financing CF | -562 | -634 | 443 | -680 | -588 |
| Free cash flowcalccash flow from operations − capital expenditures | 1,076 | 1,033 | 891 | 1,129 | 1,011 |
| Cash and equivalents | 537 | 542 | 489 | 518 | 930 |
| Per share & other | |||||
| EPS ($) | 3.93 | 3.26 | 3.52 | 3.27 | 3.07 |
| BVPS ($) | 28.22 | 27.86 | 30.40 | 32.52 | 34.40 |
| P/E (x) | 29.8 | 25.9 | 33.6 | 29.3 | 28.4 |
| EV/EBITDA (x)calc(market cap + interest-bearing debt − cash and equivalents) ÷ (operating income + depreciation & amortization) | 15.6 | 12.0 | 17.8 | 15.1 | 12.6 |
| P/B (x)calcP/E × EPS ÷ BVPS (= period-end share price ÷ book value per share) | 4.15 | 3.03 | 3.89 | 2.94 | 2.54 |
P/B and EV/EBITDA use each period’s period-end (fiscal year-end) figures, not the current share price. Figures without a "calc" tag are as reported in the Form 10-K (five-year selected financial data and the consolidated financial statements), pulled automatically from SEC EDGAR. Where a later filing restated a prior period, the restated figure is used.
14
Is ROIC above WACC?
ROIC (the return on money invested in the business) above WACC (the cost of raising that money) means the company is creating value. WACC is an estimate, so its assumptions can be adjusted below.
ROIC (FY2025)
5.1%
formulaoperating income × (1 − tax rate) ÷ invested capital × 100 *invested capital = interest-bearing debt + total equity (average of beginning/ending)
e.g.$567M × (1 − 21%) ÷ $8,753M × 100 = 5.1%
termsOperating income · Effective tax rate · Invested capital · Interest-bearing debt · Total equity
WACC (this site’s estimate)
6.01%
formulacost of equity × equity weight + cost of debt × (1 − tax rate) × debt weight
e.g.Equity weight: $12.85B ÷ ($12.85B + $4.11B) = 75.8%
e.g.Debt weight: $4.11B ÷ ($12.85B + $4.11B) = 24.2%
e.g.WACC: 7.7% × 75.8% + 0.7% × (1 − 21%) × 24.2% = 6.01%
termsCost of equity · Equity weight (E/(D+E)) · Cost of debt · (1 − tax rate) · Debt weight (D/(D+E)) · Market capitalization
WACC 6.01% is this site’s estimate under the assumptions below (not a figure the company has published)
- Risk-free rate
- 4%
- β
- 0.68 (price-derived adjusted beta, but correlation with the market is low (R² 0.03), so reliability is limited)
- Equity risk premium
- 5.5%
- Cost of equity
- 7.74%
- Cost of debt
- 0.75%
- Effective tax rate
- 21%
- Capital structure (equity : debt)
- 76% : 24%
ROIC over time, vs. WACC
Unit: % — bars = each period's ROIC, horizontal line = latest WACC. Bars above the line are green, below are red
- ROIC (above WACC)
- ROIC (below WACC)
- WACC 6.01%
formulaoperating income × (1 − tax rate) ÷ invested capital × 100 *invested capital = interest-bearing debt + total equity (average of beginning/ending)
termsOperating income · Effective tax rate · Invested capital · Interest-bearing debt · Total equity
formulacost of equity × equity weight + cost of debt × (1 − tax rate) × debt weight
termsCost of equity · Equity weight (E/(D+E)) · Cost of debt · (1 − tax rate) · Debt weight (D/(D+E)) · Market capitalization
Try different WACC assumptions
β and the equity risk premium are estimates with a real range of plausible values — move the sliders to check whether ROIC > WACC still holds. The defaults reflect 2026-09.
Initial β: 0.68 (price-derived adjusted beta. Raw β 0.52, R² 0.03, 130 weeks)
formula0.67 × β + 0.33 (β = the slope of weekly stock returns regressed on weekly market returns)
e.g.0.67 × 0.524 + 0.33 = 0.681
termsβ (beta)
Period 2024-04-05–2026-10-02, using S&P 500 ETF (SPY) as the market proxy. Source: Yahoo Finance price history.
formularisk-free rate + β × equity risk premium
e.g.4.0% + 0.68 × 5.5% = 7.7%
termsCAPM · Risk-free rate · β (beta) · Equity risk premium (market risk premium)
formulaP/E × net income ≈ period-end share price × shares outstanding (= market cap)
termsP/E · Net income (attributable to the company) · Market capitalization · Market value of equity
formulainterest expense ÷ interest-bearing debt × 100 (clamped to 0–10%; falls back to the risk-free rate if there’s no debt)
15
What the price implies (DCF)
A company's value can be written as its free cash flow divided by (cost of capital − perpetual growth). Working that backwards from the market's valuation shows how much growth the share price assumed — compared here with the company's actual past growth.
Growth the price implies (FY2025)
-0.4%
Perpetual FCF growth: g = r − FCF ÷ EV = 6.0% − 6.4%
Past FCF growth (FY2021–FY2025)
-1.5%
Compound annual rate, 4 years
Past revenue growth (FY2021–FY2025)
+5.0%
Compound annual rate, 4 years
Inputs (FY2025): free cash flow $1.01B (operating CF − capex); enterprise value $15.77B = market cap $12.85B + debt $4.11B − cash and short-term investments $1.19B; r = WACC of 6.0% using this page’s default assumptions (β 0.68, risk-free 4.0%, market premium 5.5%).
Try your own assumptions
V = FCF ÷ (r − g). It starts at the implied growth rate, where the theoretical value equals today’s enterprise value.
Theoretical enterprise value
$15.8B
FCF $1.01B ÷ (6.0% − -0.4%)
Theoretical ÷ actual enterprise value
1.00x
Above 1x: these assumptions value the business above the market did
How sensitive the answer is
Theoretical ÷ actual enterprise value for each combination of r and g.
| g \ r | 4.0% | 5.0% | 6.0% | 7.0% | 8.0% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0% | 1.60x | 1.28x | 1.07x | 0.92x | 0.80x |
| 2% | 3.21x | 2.14x | 1.60x | 1.28x | 1.07x |
| 4% | — | 6.41x | 3.21x | 2.14x | 1.60x |
| 6% | — | — | — | 6.41x | 3.21x |
| 8% | — | — | — | — | — |
A simplified model for seeing what the market price assumes, not a forecast or a target price. It treats free cash flow as growing at one constant rate forever; the result swings widely with small changes in r and g, and is undefined when g reaches r. Free cash flow here is operating cash flow minus capex, which is after interest — a full DCF of enterprise value would use cash flow before interest. Market cap and enterprise value use the fiscal year-end price, not today’s.
16
Earnings quality
The same reported profit can mean different things depending on whether it's backed by cash, driven by the core business, or the result of a one-off item. Four checks below.
- ✓
Operating CF ÷ net income: averages 2.68x
Profit is backed by cash coming in.
- ✓
Accrual ratio (latest): -9.8%
A small share of profit rests on accounting estimates.
- ✓
Core-earnings share (operating income ÷ pretax income): 94%
Most profit comes from core operations.
- ✓
Days sales outstanding: 71 → 69 days
No major slowdown in collecting on sales.
Operating CF vs. net income
Unit: $M — operating CF above net income means profit is backed by cash
- Operating CF
- Net income
formulacash flow from operations ÷ net income attributable to the company
termsCash flow from operations (operating CF) · Net income (attributable to the company)
formula(net income − operating CF) ÷ average total assets × 100
termsNet income (attributable to the company) · Cash flow from operations (operating CF) · Total assets
Source: each period's Form 10-K (SEC EDGAR). Latest: filed 2026-02-20
Profit bridge (FY2025)
Unit: $M — what moved profit from operating income to net income
- Profit (each stage)
- Pushed profit up
- Pushed profit down
formulaoperating income ÷ income before income taxes × 100
termsOperating income · Income before income taxes (pretax income)
Source: each period's Form 10-K (SEC EDGAR). Latest: filed 2026-02-20
Receivables & inventory days
Unit: days — days grow when receivables or inventory build up faster than sales
- Days sales outstanding
formulaperiod-end receivables ÷ revenue × 365
formulaperiod-end inventory ÷ revenue × 365
termsInventory · Revenue (net sales)
Worked examples (latest period)
formulacash flow from operations ÷ net income attributable to the company
e.g.$1,519M ÷ $452M = 3.36x
termsCash flow from operations (operating CF) · Net income (attributable to the company)
formulaoperating income ÷ income before income taxes × 100
e.g.$567M ÷ $602M × 100 = 94%
termsOperating income · Income before income taxes (pretax income)
formulaperiod-end receivables ÷ revenue × 365
e.g.$794M ÷ $4,208M × 365 = 69 days
17
Strengths & weaknesses
Strengths
1. Security is now the core
Security revenue grew to $2.24B (53% of the total) in 2025, up 10%, after 16% growth in 2024.
Evidence: Form 10-K (FY2025) MD&A
2. Massively distributed network
More than 4,300 edge points of presence in over 130 countries and about 700 cities, integrated with roughly 1,200 network partners — the basis for both its security insight and its edge computing.
Evidence: Form 10-K (FY2025) Item 1
3. Diversified, blue-chip customer base
No customer was 10% or more of revenue in 2023–2025; named customers include adidas, Adobe, Airbnb, Autodesk, eBay, Honda, Marriott, Sony Interactive Entertainment, and U.S. federal departments.
Evidence: Form 10-K (FY2025) Item 1
4. Steady cash generation
Operating cash flow was about $1.5B in each of 2024 and 2025, funding $800M of share repurchases in 2025.
Evidence: SEC EDGAR XBRL; Form 10-K (FY2025) Item 5
Weaknesses
1. Shrinking delivery business
Delivery revenue fell 15% in 2024 and 5% in 2025 because of lower renewal pricing and customers' cost optimization.
Evidence: Form 10-K (FY2025) MD&A
2. Falling operating margin
Operating income fell from $783M (FY2021) to $567M (FY2025) while revenue grew from $3.46B to $4.21B.
Evidence: SEC EDGAR XBRL
3. Growing debt
Convertible notes rose from about $2.0B (FY2021) to $4.1B (FY2025), and Akamai issued another $3.5B of zero-coupon convertible notes in May 2026.
Evidence: SEC EDGAR XBRL; 8-K filed 2026-05-22
18
What draws investors to it
Why the stock can look attractive to investors — each point paired with what has to hold for it to stay true, and the opposing view. This is this site's analysis, not a recommendation to buy or sell.
P/E (FY2025)
28.4x
Price at fiscal year-end ÷ diluted EPS
Dividend yield (FY2025)
—
Dividends per share ÷ fiscal year-end price
Payout ratio (FY2025)
—
Dividends per share ÷ diluted EPS
FCF yield (FY2025)
7.9%
(Operating CF − capex) ÷ market cap
1. A large, contracted AI compute deal
Anthropic's ~$11.6B commitment over seven years is roughly 2.8 times Akamai's FY2025 revenue in total, which could move cloud computing from a small line to a major one.
- What has to hold
- Akamai delivers the capacity on time and meets availability requirements.
- The other side
- The 8-K lets Anthropic end a project plan after a material outage, and building the capacity requires heavy hardware purchases and more debt first.
Evidence: 8-K filed 2026-09-24; Form 10-K (FY2025)
2. Security franchise
Security is more than half of revenue and growing about 10% a year.
- What has to hold
- Demand for API, bot, and AI security keeps growing.
- The other side
- Security markets are crowded, and the 10-K expects competition to increase.
Evidence: Form 10-K (FY2025) MD&A and Item 1
3. Buybacks
Akamai repurchased $800M of stock in 2025, and shares outstanding fell from 161M (FY2021) to 145M (FY2025).
- What has to hold
- Cash flow stays steady.
- The other side
- Capital needs for the Anthropic build-out may compete with buybacks; the warrant could add up to 7.7M shares.
Evidence: Form 10-K (FY2025) Item 5; SEC EDGAR XBRL; 8-K filed 2026-09-24
Akamai doesn't pay a dividend. P/E and FCF yield use the FY2025 year-end share price, before the Anthropic agreements were announced.
19
Resilience
How well the company could absorb a bad year: its financial buffer, how its revenue and profit held up in the worst year on record, and what the 10-K says about the business's exposure to shocks. Figures and filing statements only — no overall rating.
1. Financial buffer (FY2025)
Cash & short-term investments ÷ debt due within a year
No debt due
$1.19B vs. $0
Interest coverage (operating income ÷ interest expense)
18.4x
$567M vs. $31M
Free cash flow ÷ dividends paid
—
2. Worst year in the record, and the recovery
| Figure | Worst year-over-year change | Back to the prior level? |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | No decline in the record | — |
| Operating income | -16.3% in FY2024 ($637M → $533M) | Not yet, as of FY2025 |
Covers only the 5 fiscal years on record (FY2021–FY2025), which may not include a full recession — the worst year here isn’t necessarily how the company would fare in a severe downturn.
3. Business resilience (from the 10-K)
Recurring contracts
Most revenue comes from contracts of one year or longer, giving a relatively consistent base.
Source: Proxy statement (2026) · See Contract structure
No customer concentration (through 2025)
No customer was 10% of revenue in 2023–2025, though the Anthropic agreements change that picture from 2026.
Source: Form 10-K (FY2025), Item 1; 8-K filed 2026-09-24
Liquidity
Akamai expects cash, marketable securities, and operating cash flow to cover its needs for at least the next 12 months.
Source: Form 10-K (FY2025), MD&A
Low-cost debt
Its borrowings are mostly convertible notes, including $3.5B issued at 0% interest in May 2026.
Source: 8-K filed 2026-05-22
20
Risks (including geopolitical)
Starting from the 10-K's Risk Factors section, organized by category — geopolitical, currency, raw materials, regulatory, disaster, and more — with impact and likelihood assessed by this site.
Risk map
Vertical = impact on results, horizontal = likelihood. Upper right = most severe. Numbers match the list below (placement is this site’s own assessment).
Likelihood →
"Company disclosure" vs. "this site’s assessment"
The description and mitigation for each risk are this site’s summary of the 10-K’s "Risk Factors" section. Impact and likelihood are this site’s own assessment, not the company’s — where the company discloses its own likelihood assessment, that is noted in the summary.
Impact is judged from how large the affected business is relative to total revenue/profit, and from the risk’s track record of moving results in the past. Likelihood is judged from the filing’s wording and the current business environment (already occurring, or recurring).
- 1Customer/supplier concentration
Dependence on one large AI customer
- Company disclosure (summarized from the 10-K)
- Anthropic's ~$11.6B commitment is large relative to Akamai's $4.2B of annual revenue; Anthropic may terminate a project plan after a material outage, and payments depend on Akamai meeting delivery and availability requirements.
- Company’s stated mitigation
- Seven-year committed terms; if one project plan is terminated for breach, the other continues as a separate agreement.
- This site’s assessment
- Impact High / Likelihood Med
- 2Supply chain
Building capacity for the Anthropic agreements
- Company disclosure (summarized from the 10-K)
- Serving the contract requires buying hardware at scale — including about $1.7B of memory components through Jabil — before revenue arrives.
- Company’s stated mitigation
- New supply agreements with Jabil and Lenovo.
- This site’s assessment
- Impact Med / Likelihood Med
- 3Competition & technology shift
Intense competition
- Company disclosure (summarized from the 10-K)
- Akamai competes with content delivery, security, cloud computing, and equipment vendors, and customers may build their own solutions; delivery pricing keeps falling.
- Company’s stated mitigation
- Global scale, reliability, and a shift toward security and compute.
- This site’s assessment
- Impact Med / Likelihood High
- 4Law & regulation
Internet and privacy regulation
- Company disclosure (summarized from the 10-K)
- Data localization, privacy, AI, content liability, and 'fair share' internet tax rules could constrain operations.
- Company’s stated mitigation
- Not stated beyond compliance efforts.
- This site’s assessment
- Impact Med / Likelihood Med
- 5Governance & quality
Restructuring disruption
- Company disclosure (summarized from the 10-K)
- Repeated internal restructurings to cut costs and reprioritize investment could disrupt operations, the 10-K warns.
- Company’s stated mitigation
- Not stated.
- This site’s assessment
- Impact Low / Likelihood Med
21
What to watch going forward
- Start of service and first payments under the Anthropic project plans, which also trigger the first warrant tranche.
- Capital spending and debt to build the dedicated capacity.
- Whether security growth offsets the decline in delivery.
- Cloud computing revenue growth.
22
Source documents
This page's financial figures come from the Form 10-Ks listed below. Check the original filings for full detail.
Last updated
Analysis last edited: October 4, 2026 · Financial data fetched: October 4, 2026 14:11 (SEC EDGAR) · Source 10-K filed: February 20, 2026
Next update expectedAfter FY2026’s 10-K is filed (roughly 60–90 days after fiscal year end (sooner for larger filers)), financials and analysis will be refreshed.
This page is this site’s own analysis based on public information, and does not represent Akamai Technologies, Inc.’s views. It is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security, and this site does not guarantee the accuracy of any figure or statement here. Always verify against the original source documents before making an investment decision.