How much a stock's price changes over time is a significant driver for most investors. Not only can price performance impact your portfolio, but it can help you compare investment results across sectors and industries as well.

Another thing that can drive investing is the fear of missing out, or FOMO. This particularly applies to tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.

What if you'd invested in Akamai Technologies (AKAM Quick QuoteAKAM - Free Report) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to AKAM for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?

Akamai Technologies' Business In-Depth

With that in mind, let's take a look at Akamai Technologies' main business drivers.

Akamai Technologies, Inc. is a global provider of content delivery network (CDN) and cloud infrastructure services.

The company’s solutions accelerate and improve the delivery of content over the Internet, enabling faster response to requests for web pages, streaming of video & audio, business applications, etc. Its offerings are intended to reduce the impact of traffic congestion, bandwidth constraints and capacity limitations on customers.

Moreover, Akamai’s solutions allow customers to operate their web transactions anywhere anytime with cost-effective outsourced infrastructure and carry out predictable, scalable and secure e-business at low cost.

These solutions are built on the Akamai Intelligent Edge Platform, which is the technological platform for its business solutions and hosts some of the world’s best-known Internet brand names.

The company’s cloud optimization solutions help organizations to improve performance, increase availability and enhance the security of applications and key web assets delivered from data-centers to the end user.

Akamai’s platform comprises more than 350,000 servers located in over 1,300 networks around the world.

Headquartered in Cambridge, MA, Akamai reported revenues of $935.7 million in the second quarter of 2023.

Akamai markets and sells its services and solutions both domestically and internationally through direct sales and more than 100 active channel partners, including AT&T, Orange Business Services, IBM, Deutsche Telecom and Telefonica Group.

Bottom Line

While anyone can invest, building a lucrative investment portfolio takes research, patience, and a little bit of risk. If you had invested in Akamai Technologies ten years ago, you're probably feeling pretty good about your investment today.

According to our calculations, a $1000 investment made in December 2013 would be worth $2,583.41, or a 158.34% gain, as of December 1, 2023. Investors should keep in mind that this return excludes dividends but includes price appreciation.

Compare this to the S&P 500's rally of 152.95% and gold's return of 56.38% over the same time frame.

Analysts are anticipating more upside for AKAM.

Akamai is benefiting from healthy traction in the Security and Compute verticals. Its security offerings are poised to gain from higher demand for data computing at the edge, triggered by rapid deployment of 5G and IoT devices proliferation. Increasing adoption of cloud computing technologies will likely be a major growth driver for Akamai, while cybersecurity also holds a lot of promise. Focus on the emerging market of API security solutions is a tailwind. However, Akamai is exposed to foreign exchange volatility owing to a global presence. Growth in the mobile Internet market and the shift of some traffic from wireline to wireless networks remain potent threats for its wireline CDN (content delivery network) business. Intense competition and an aggressive pricing strategy are likely to hurt profitability.

Shares have gained 9.75% over the past four weeks and there have been 9 higher earnings estimate revisions for fiscal 2023 compared to none lower. The consensus estimate has moved up as well.