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Akamai Technologies (AKAM) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

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Akamai Technologies (AKAM - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $106.83, moving +0.27% from the previous trading session. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.01%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.22%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.67%.

Heading into today, shares of the cloud services provider had gained 1.13% over the past month, outpacing the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 4.63% and the S&P 500's loss of 4.45% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Akamai Technologies as it approaches its next earnings report date. On that day, Akamai Technologies is projected to report earnings of $1.51 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 19.84%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $944.57 million, up 7.11% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $5.94 per share and revenue of $3.78 billion. These totals would mark changes of +10.61% and +4.57%, respectively, from last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Akamai Technologies should also be noted by investors. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. Akamai Technologies is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, Akamai Technologies is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 17.95. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 27.49, so we one might conclude that Akamai Technologies is trading at a discount comparatively.

We can also see that AKAM currently has a PEG ratio of 1.85. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. Internet - Services stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.85 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Internet - Services industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 89, which puts it in the top 36% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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