Back to top

Image: Shutterstock

Akamai (AKAM) to Report Q4 Earnings: What's in the Cards?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (AKAM - Free Report) is scheduled to report fourth-quarter 2021 results on Feb 15, after the closing bell. In the last reported quarter, the company delivered an earnings surprise of 4.3%. It pulled off a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 3.4%, on average.

The Cambridge, MA-based company is expected to have recorded year-over-year higher revenues, driven by growth in its security business.

Factors at Play

During the quarter, Akamai completed the acquisition of Guardicore of Tel Aviv, Israel, for almost $600 million. Guardicore’s micro-segmentation products have been added to Akamai’s portfolio of Zero Trust solutions to guard enterprises from ransomware while protecting the critical assets of the network.

Akamai launched App & API Protector, its next-generation web application and API protection solution. It provides a set of protections for today’s applications and APIs with intelligent automation.

Akamai and Queue-it, a leader in virtual waiting room services, announced a global partnership to offer enterprises consumer-friendly means to manage the challenges caused by surges in website traffic. The partnership gives customers a deployable solution that controls online traffic and scales across Akamai’s Intelligent Edge Platform.

These developments are likely to have positively impacted Akamai’s performance in the fourth quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $899 million, which indicates growth of 6.3% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure. The consensus estimate for adjusted earnings per share is pegged at $1.42, suggesting an increase of 6.8%.

What Our Model Says

Our proven model predicts an earnings beat for Akamai this season. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. That’s exactly the case here. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Earnings ESP: Akamai’s Earnings ESP, which represents the difference between the Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate, is +1.65% as the former is pegged at $1.44 and the latter at $1.42.

Akamai Technologies, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Akamai Technologies, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Akamai Technologies, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Akamai Technologies, Inc. Quote

Zacks Rank: Akamai currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.

Other Stocks to Consider

Here are some other companies that you may want to consider as our model shows that these too have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter:

Service Corporation International (SCI - Free Report) is slated to release fourth-quarter 2021 results on Feb 14. Service Corporation has an Earnings ESP of +17.39% and a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

WESCO International, Inc. (WCC - Free Report) is scheduled to release fourth-quarter 2021 results on Feb 15. WESCO International has an Earnings ESP of +5.88% and a Zacks Rank #2.

NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +1.37% and a Zacks Rank #2. NVIDIA is set to report fourth-quarter fiscal 2022 results on Feb 16.

Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.

Published in