Akamai Downgraded to Neutral by Baird Amid Balanced Risk-Reward
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: 1 hour ago
0mins
Should l Buy AKAM?
Source: seekingalpha
- Rating Downgrade: Baird downgraded Akamai from Outperform to Neutral, indicating a more balanced risk-reward profile, reflecting a cautious outlook on short-term growth potential.
- Stock Performance: Year-to-date, Akamai has surged 33%, significantly outperforming the S&P 500's -4% and IGV's -25%, recently hitting 52-week highs, driven by optimism surrounding compute capabilities and AI traffic.
- Short-Term Outlook: Analysts note that while the long-term prospects for the CIS segment are positive, seasonal factors may limit Q1 growth, particularly in the key CIS area, with no significant near-term uplift expected.
- AI Impact Assessment: Analyst William Power stated that while AI could provide long-term benefits, the current text-based AI activities are unlikely to significantly impact Akamai's delivery business, with expected short-term gains being “modest.”
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Analyst Views on AKAM
Wall Street analysts forecast AKAM stock price to fall
11 Analyst Rating
6 Buy
5 Hold
0 Sell
Moderate Buy
Current: 115.750
Low
89.00
Averages
103.73
High
115.00
Current: 115.750
Low
89.00
Averages
103.73
High
115.00
About AKAM
Akamai Technologies, Inc. is a cybersecurity and cloud computing company. The Company develops and provides solutions for global enterprises to build, secure and accelerate their applications and digital experiences. Akamai Connected Cloud, the Company's platform, is comprised of an edge and cloud architecture and underlying network for cloud computing, security and content delivery services. Its cloud computing services include compute, storage, networking, database and container management services that are required to build, deploy and secure applications and workloads. Its security solutions are designed to keep infrastructure, websites, applications, application programming interfaces and users safe from a multitude of cyberattacks and online threats while improving performance. Its content delivery solutions consist of Web and mobile performance focused solutions and media delivery solutions. It also specializes in serverless WebAssembly function-as-a-service (FaaS) technology.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
Akamai Downgraded to Neutral by Baird Amid Balanced Risk-Reward
- Rating Downgrade: Baird downgraded Akamai from Outperform to Neutral, indicating a more balanced risk-reward profile, reflecting a cautious outlook on short-term growth potential.
- Stock Performance: Year-to-date, Akamai has surged 33%, significantly outperforming the S&P 500's -4% and IGV's -25%, recently hitting 52-week highs, driven by optimism surrounding compute capabilities and AI traffic.
- Short-Term Outlook: Analysts note that while the long-term prospects for the CIS segment are positive, seasonal factors may limit Q1 growth, particularly in the key CIS area, with no significant near-term uplift expected.
- AI Impact Assessment: Analyst William Power stated that while AI could provide long-term benefits, the current text-based AI activities are unlikely to significantly impact Akamai's delivery business, with expected short-term gains being “modest.”
See More
Akamai Secures Data Communications Contract with Montana
- Contract Awarded: Montana has awarded Akamai a new data communications contract, streamlining the acquisition of its security and cloud computing solutions for state and local agencies as well as educational institutions, thereby reducing administrative hurdles associated with traditional bidding.
- Market Demand: According to Akamai's VP Rob San Martin, government agencies and schools require immediate access to industry-leading cloud and security tools to enhance service resilience, scalability, and performance while ensuring the protection of citizen data.
- Partnership Utilization: Akamai will leverage its partnership with Carahsoft to fulfill orders and provide technical guidance to participating agencies, ensuring effective implementation and support of its solutions.
- Stock Price Reaction: Following the announcement, Akamai's shares rose approximately 1% in premarket trading on Wednesday, indicating a positive market response to the new contract.
See More
Akamai Technologies Secures New Data Communications Contract
- Contract Awarded: Akamai Technologies announced the acquisition of a new data communications contract, further solidifying its market position in data transmission and expected to generate a stable revenue stream for the company.
- Market Impact: The acquisition of this contract not only enhances Akamai's business portfolio but may also attract more customers to its data solutions, increasing the company's appeal in a competitive market.
- Strategic Significance: By expanding the scope of the contract, Akamai can better meet customer demands for efficient data communication, thereby improving customer satisfaction and fostering long-term partnerships.
- Future Outlook: With the continuous growth in data communication demand, the successful signing of this contract lays the groundwork for Akamai's future business expansion and technological innovation, indicating the company's ongoing development potential in the industry.
See More
Akamai Secures Data Communications Contract with Montana
- Streamlined Procurement: Akamai's new data communications contract with Montana provides a compliant purchasing pathway for state and local agencies, as well as educational institutions, enabling faster access to industry-leading security and cloud computing solutions, thereby enhancing public sector digital transformation efficiency.
- Cyber Threat Response: This contract addresses the urgent need for government agencies to deploy security patches quickly while offering educational institutions a direct mechanism to modernize campuses and protect student data, significantly bolstering defenses against sophisticated cyber threats.
- Market Expansion Opportunities: The contract allows other U.S. states to utilize this authorized vehicle, enabling them to diversify their technology stack through reciprocal agreements, which further drives Akamai's penetration in the public sector market.
- Partner Support: Akamai will collaborate with Carahsoft to provide technical guidance and fulfill orders, with Carahsoft's involvement helping public sector customers maximize the value of this contract and ensure the successful implementation of their digital transformation initiatives.
See More
AI Traffic Surpasses Human Users, Report Reveals
- Traffic Surge: The Human Security report reveals that automated traffic grew almost eight times faster than human activity in 2025, indicating a rapid shift towards AI dominance on the internet.
- Data Processing Scale: The report is based on over one quadrillion interactions processed by Human Security's Human Defense Platform, providing a significant benchmark for the industry despite challenges in quantifying automated activity across the internet.
- Agentic Activity Growth: In 2025, the volume of AI agentic activity surged nearly 8,000%, showcasing the increasing capability of AI to perform user actions autonomously, thereby transforming traditional internet interactions.
- Future Predictions: Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince predicts that by 2027, AI bot traffic will surpass human traffic, reflecting the immense data demands of generative AI and its potential impact on the structure of the internet.
See More
Akamai Launches New Brand Protection Tool
- AI-Powered Brand Protection: Akamai's new tool, Akamai Brand Guardian, leverages AI technology to achieve 99.99% accuracy in automatically identifying and managing brand impersonation, effectively safeguarding digital assets and customer relationships.
- Modern Scam Response: With the rise of generative AI, scammers can quickly create fake websites; Akamai Brand Guardian replaces traditional manual discovery methods with continuous monitoring and risk management, significantly enhancing corporate response speed.
- Automated Response Mechanism: The tool accelerates the investigation and takedown of fraudulent sites through automated workflows, ensuring businesses can swiftly counteract attacks from scammers, thereby reducing potential revenue losses and customer trust crises.
- Comprehensive Security Defense: Akamai Brand Guardian integrates brand abuse data with broader security insights, helping companies build a more complete digital risk defense system, enhancing overall security and customer experience.
See More
Akamai Downgraded to Neutral by Baird Amid Balanced Risk-Reward
- Rating Downgrade: Baird downgraded Akamai from Outperform to Neutral, indicating a more balanced risk-reward profile, reflecting a cautious outlook on short-term growth potential.
- Stock Performance: Year-to-date, Akamai has surged 33%, significantly outperforming the S&P 500's -4% and IGV's -25%, recently hitting 52-week highs, driven by optimism surrounding compute capabilities and AI traffic.
- Short-Term Outlook: Analysts note that while the long-term prospects for the CIS segment are positive, seasonal factors may limit Q1 growth, particularly in the key CIS area, with no significant near-term uplift expected.
- AI Impact Assessment: Analyst William Power stated that while AI could provide long-term benefits, the current text-based AI activities are unlikely to significantly impact Akamai's delivery business, with expected short-term gains being “modest.”
See More
Akamai Secures Data Communications Contract with Montana
- Contract Awarded: Montana has awarded Akamai a new data communications contract, streamlining the acquisition of its security and cloud computing solutions for state and local agencies as well as educational institutions, thereby reducing administrative hurdles associated with traditional bidding.
- Market Demand: According to Akamai's VP Rob San Martin, government agencies and schools require immediate access to industry-leading cloud and security tools to enhance service resilience, scalability, and performance while ensuring the protection of citizen data.
- Partnership Utilization: Akamai will leverage its partnership with Carahsoft to fulfill orders and provide technical guidance to participating agencies, ensuring effective implementation and support of its solutions.
- Stock Price Reaction: Following the announcement, Akamai's shares rose approximately 1% in premarket trading on Wednesday, indicating a positive market response to the new contract.
See More
Akamai Technologies Secures New Data Communications Contract
- Contract Awarded: Akamai Technologies announced the acquisition of a new data communications contract, further solidifying its market position in data transmission and expected to generate a stable revenue stream for the company.
- Market Impact: The acquisition of this contract not only enhances Akamai's business portfolio but may also attract more customers to its data solutions, increasing the company's appeal in a competitive market.
- Strategic Significance: By expanding the scope of the contract, Akamai can better meet customer demands for efficient data communication, thereby improving customer satisfaction and fostering long-term partnerships.
- Future Outlook: With the continuous growth in data communication demand, the successful signing of this contract lays the groundwork for Akamai's future business expansion and technological innovation, indicating the company's ongoing development potential in the industry.
See More
Akamai Secures Data Communications Contract with Montana
- Streamlined Procurement: Akamai's new data communications contract with Montana provides a compliant purchasing pathway for state and local agencies, as well as educational institutions, enabling faster access to industry-leading security and cloud computing solutions, thereby enhancing public sector digital transformation efficiency.
- Cyber Threat Response: This contract addresses the urgent need for government agencies to deploy security patches quickly while offering educational institutions a direct mechanism to modernize campuses and protect student data, significantly bolstering defenses against sophisticated cyber threats.
- Market Expansion Opportunities: The contract allows other U.S. states to utilize this authorized vehicle, enabling them to diversify their technology stack through reciprocal agreements, which further drives Akamai's penetration in the public sector market.
- Partner Support: Akamai will collaborate with Carahsoft to provide technical guidance and fulfill orders, with Carahsoft's involvement helping public sector customers maximize the value of this contract and ensure the successful implementation of their digital transformation initiatives.
See More
AI Traffic Surpasses Human Users, Report Reveals
- Traffic Surge: The Human Security report reveals that automated traffic grew almost eight times faster than human activity in 2025, indicating a rapid shift towards AI dominance on the internet.
- Data Processing Scale: The report is based on over one quadrillion interactions processed by Human Security's Human Defense Platform, providing a significant benchmark for the industry despite challenges in quantifying automated activity across the internet.
- Agentic Activity Growth: In 2025, the volume of AI agentic activity surged nearly 8,000%, showcasing the increasing capability of AI to perform user actions autonomously, thereby transforming traditional internet interactions.
- Future Predictions: Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince predicts that by 2027, AI bot traffic will surpass human traffic, reflecting the immense data demands of generative AI and its potential impact on the structure of the internet.
See More
Akamai Launches New Brand Protection Tool
- AI-Powered Brand Protection: Akamai's new tool, Akamai Brand Guardian, leverages AI technology to achieve 99.99% accuracy in automatically identifying and managing brand impersonation, effectively safeguarding digital assets and customer relationships.
- Modern Scam Response: With the rise of generative AI, scammers can quickly create fake websites; Akamai Brand Guardian replaces traditional manual discovery methods with continuous monitoring and risk management, significantly enhancing corporate response speed.
- Automated Response Mechanism: The tool accelerates the investigation and takedown of fraudulent sites through automated workflows, ensuring businesses can swiftly counteract attacks from scammers, thereby reducing potential revenue losses and customer trust crises.
- Comprehensive Security Defense: Akamai Brand Guardian integrates brand abuse data with broader security insights, helping companies build a more complete digital risk defense system, enhancing overall security and customer experience.
See More
