Akamai falls to $77.84 as quarterly outlook comes in below analyst consensus

Key Facts

Akamai shares closed at $77.84 in the November 5, 2026 session, down from an opening price of $83.42, after trading between $77.37 and $84.21. The session coincided with the company’s third-quarter results and fourth-quarter outlook, not with the announcement of a new deal with Anthropic. Akamai estimated next-quarter revenue at between $1.145 billion and $1.170 billion, while analysts’ consensus was $1.197 billion, according to Investing.com coverage. The coverage linked the share decline to guidance below analysts’ expectations. The company had scheduled its investor call to discuss the results for November 5 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time.

Akamai reported third-quarter revenue of $1.122 billion, up 6% from the same period in 2025, when revenue was $1.055 billion. Revenue growth varied across its businesses: cloud infrastructure services revenue rose to $109 million, up 34% year over year. Security revenue also increased 9% to $622 million. By contrast, revenue from delivery and other cloud applications fell 3% to $391 million. The results reflect strong growth in cloud infrastructure and security, alongside a contraction in delivery and other cloud applications.

Revenue growth did not translate into improved per-share earnings: diluted GAAP earnings were about $0.77, down 21% from the third quarter of 2025. Diluted non-GAAP earnings were about $1.77 per share, down 5% year over year. These figures put earnings performance on a weaker trajectory than overall revenue growth, even as cloud infrastructure services accelerated. The gap between growth in the different businesses and the decline in per-share earnings stands out in the results the company announced on November 5. The subsequent quarterly outlook came as the stock was falling in the same session.

Behind the November results, Akamai’s cloud relationship with Anthropic includes a long-term agreement announced on September 24, 2026. According to the company’s filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Anthropic committed to paying about $11.6 billion in total under the project plans, each of which has an initial term of seven years. The agreement allows the relationship to expand by up to an additional $9 billion, potentially raising the total commitment to about $20 billion. Under the agreement, Akamai provides CPU computing capacity and managed support services through its distributed cloud infrastructure. The company said that each additional $3 billion in service purchases, under agreed terms, corresponds to the vesting of about 1% of its common shares.

The agreement also includes a warrant issued by Akamai to Anthropic to purchase non-voting convertible preferred shares that, upon vesting, could represent up to about 5% of common shares outstanding, at an exercise price of $111.33 per common share. The company estimated capital expenditure tied to Anthropic’s commitment at about $5.5 billion, with capital expenditure expected to increase by about $1.7 billion during 2026 to secure supply-chain components. Akamai said the agreement does not change its 2026 revenue outlook. After the agreement was announced in September, the stock jumped 22% in extended trading, according to a Reuters report via Fidelity. But the company’s shares were down 10% from the announcement through the October 30 Investing.com report, wiping $1.8 billion off its market capitalization, according to the report.

Chief Executive Tom Leighton said Akamai had signed multi-year commitments worth more than $14 billion during the year, and also pointed to the launch of Akamai Inference and Akamai Agent Sandbox. The company expects revenue to grow 17% to 22% year over year in 2027, adjusted for currency effects. It also estimated 2027 cloud infrastructure services revenue at between $1.1 billion and $1.3 billion. The outlook follows 34% year-over-year growth in the business in the third quarter, while the company’s fourth-quarter revenue range came in below analysts’ consensus. The third-quarter results call was scheduled for November 5 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time.