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Akamai Technologies, Inc. (AKAM - Free Report) is scheduled to report third-quarter 2026 earnings after market close on Nov. 5. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for sales and earnings is pegged at $1.12 billion and $1.67 per share, respectively. Over the past 60 days, estimates for AKAM have declined for 2026 and 2027.
AKAM Estimate Trend
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Earnings Surprise History
This leading provider of content delivery network (CDN), cybersecurity and cloud infrastructure services delivered an average earnings surprise of 4.8% in the trailing four quarters.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Earnings Whispers
Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Akamai in the third quarter. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat. This is not the case here. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
AKAM currently has an ESP of 0.00% and carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
During the quarter, Akamai formed a strategic alliance with Deloitte Canada to help organizations strengthen cyber resilience against AI-accelerated threats. The partnership combines Akamai’s security platform with Deloitte’s cybersecurity expertise to simplify security architectures, reduce tool complexity and enable proactive protection. It is collaborating with MuleSoft to combine real-time API security with AI-powered policy controls across Agent Fabric. The initiative expands Akamai’s security capabilities, helping enterprises protect APIs, manage AI-driven interactions and strengthen governance across complex digital environments.
Akamai's AI infrastructure business is expected to benefit from the $11.6 billion multi-year agreement with Anthropic. The deal is expected to strengthen Akamai’s role in AI computing, expand its infrastructure capabilities and support the increasing needs of advanced AI workloads. Such strategic collaborations with industry leaders are expected to boost commercial prospects in the long run.
Akamai continues to experience weakness in its Delivery business due to pricing dynamics and changing traffic patterns. The ongoing decline in traditional content delivery continues to offset gains from Security and Cloud Infrastructure Services. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Akamai’s delivery and cloud applications business revenues is $390.3 million, indicating a decline of 3.6% year over year.
Price Performance
Over the past year, Akamai has gained 20.5% against the industry’s decline of 0.8%. It outperformed its peer Cloudflare (NET - Free Report) but underperformed Fastly (FSLY - Free Report) . While Cloudflare has gained 13.5%, Fastly has soared 158.8% over this period.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Key Valuation Metric
From a valuation standpoint, Akamai appears to be relatively discount than the industry and lower than its mean. Going by the price/earnings ratio, the company’s shares currently trade at 12.85 forward earnings, lower than 17.76 for the industry and lower than the stock’s mean of 26.15.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Investment Consideration
Akamai's expanding position in AI infrastructure and enterprise cybersecurity provides a compelling long-term growth opportunity. Its distributed network infrastructure offers opportunities to support AI inference workloads closer to end users. Growing demand for API security, application protection and Zero Trust solutions strengthens its cybersecurity business.
However, the near-term financial outlook remains challenging. Significant infrastructure investments are increasing depreciation and operating costs, while weakness in the Delivery business continues to constrain consolidated growth. The decline in operating profitability and lower cash generation also deserve attention.
International revenues represented approximately half of total revenues in the second quarter of 2026. Management expects a $9 million revenue headwind from foreign exchange in the second half of 2026 and continues to identify macroeconomic and geopolitical developments as factors that could affect customer demand.
Currency exposure can therefore limit reported growth visibility. Moreover, Akamai completed the LayerX acquisition in July 2026 for approximately $205 million as it expands its AI and Zero Trust security capabilities. The LayerX acquisition is expected to dilute 2026 non-GAAP EPS by approximately 12 cents, adding to near-term earnings pressure.
End Note
Akamai enters its third-quarter earnings announcement with encouraging momentum in cybersecurity and cloud infrastructure, supported by increasing AI-related demand. However, the near-term outlook remains clouded by declining Delivery revenues, higher infrastructure costs, margin compression and weaker cash flow generation. While the company's multi-year AI contracts offer considerable growth potential over the longer term, the associated capital requirements and delayed revenue contribution could continue to weigh on profitability for some time. Owing to these factors, investors should avoid investing in this stock at present.
View the Zacks #1 Rank List
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AKAM to Report Q3 Earnings: Time to Buy, Hold or Sell the Stock?
Key Takeaways
Akamai Technologies, Inc. (AKAM - Free Report) is scheduled to report third-quarter 2026 earnings after market close on Nov. 5. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for sales and earnings is pegged at $1.12 billion and $1.67 per share, respectively. Over the past 60 days, estimates for AKAM have declined for 2026 and 2027.
AKAM Estimate Trend
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Earnings Surprise History
This leading provider of content delivery network (CDN), cybersecurity and cloud infrastructure services delivered an average earnings surprise of 4.8% in the trailing four quarters.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Earnings Whispers
Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Akamai in the third quarter. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat. This is not the case here. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
AKAM currently has an ESP of 0.00% and carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Factors Shaping the Quarterly Performance
During the quarter, Akamai formed a strategic alliance with Deloitte Canada to help organizations strengthen cyber resilience against AI-accelerated threats. The partnership combines Akamai’s security platform with Deloitte’s cybersecurity expertise to simplify security architectures, reduce tool complexity and enable proactive protection. It is collaborating with MuleSoft to combine real-time API security with AI-powered policy controls across Agent Fabric. The initiative expands Akamai’s security capabilities, helping enterprises protect APIs, manage AI-driven interactions and strengthen governance across complex digital environments.
Akamai's AI infrastructure business is expected to benefit from the $11.6 billion multi-year agreement with Anthropic. The deal is expected to strengthen Akamai’s role in AI computing, expand its infrastructure capabilities and support the increasing needs of advanced AI workloads. Such strategic collaborations with industry leaders are expected to boost commercial prospects in the long run.
Akamai continues to experience weakness in its Delivery business due to pricing dynamics and changing traffic patterns. The ongoing decline in traditional content delivery continues to offset gains from Security and Cloud Infrastructure Services. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Akamai’s delivery and cloud applications business revenues is $390.3 million, indicating a decline of 3.6% year over year.
Price Performance
Over the past year, Akamai has gained 20.5% against the industry’s decline of 0.8%. It outperformed its peer Cloudflare (NET - Free Report) but underperformed Fastly (FSLY - Free Report) . While Cloudflare has gained 13.5%, Fastly has soared 158.8% over this period.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Key Valuation Metric
From a valuation standpoint, Akamai appears to be relatively discount than the industry and lower than its mean. Going by the price/earnings ratio, the company’s shares currently trade at 12.85 forward earnings, lower than 17.76 for the industry and lower than the stock’s mean of 26.15.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Investment Consideration
Akamai's expanding position in AI infrastructure and enterprise cybersecurity provides a compelling long-term growth opportunity. Its distributed network infrastructure offers opportunities to support AI inference workloads closer to end users. Growing demand for API security, application protection and Zero Trust solutions strengthens its cybersecurity business.
However, the near-term financial outlook remains challenging. Significant infrastructure investments are increasing depreciation and operating costs, while weakness in the Delivery business continues to constrain consolidated growth. The decline in operating profitability and lower cash generation also deserve attention.
International revenues represented approximately half of total revenues in the second quarter of 2026. Management expects a $9 million revenue headwind from foreign exchange in the second half of 2026 and continues to identify macroeconomic and geopolitical developments as factors that could affect customer demand.
Currency exposure can therefore limit reported growth visibility. Moreover, Akamai completed the LayerX acquisition in July 2026 for approximately $205 million as it expands its AI and Zero Trust security capabilities. The LayerX acquisition is expected to dilute 2026 non-GAAP EPS by approximately 12 cents, adding to near-term earnings pressure.
End Note
Akamai enters its third-quarter earnings announcement with encouraging momentum in cybersecurity and cloud infrastructure, supported by increasing AI-related demand. However, the near-term outlook remains clouded by declining Delivery revenues, higher infrastructure costs, margin compression and weaker cash flow generation. While the company's multi-year AI contracts offer considerable growth potential over the longer term, the associated capital requirements and delayed revenue contribution could continue to weigh on profitability for some time. Owing to these factors, investors should avoid investing in this stock at present.