Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

25 Sep 2026, 16:03 by Sarita Garza · The Markets Daily

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM – Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Friday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $158.00 to $167.00. The stock had previously closed at $110.41, but opened at $125.23. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Akamai Technologies shares last traded at $117.81, with a volume of 9,515,258 shares.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on AKAM. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Akamai Technologies from $190.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler raised Akamai Technologies from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $140.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. HSBC downgraded Akamai Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $171.00 to $123.00 in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Akamai Technologies in a report on Friday. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Akamai Technologies from $175.00 to $140.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $147.71.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on Akamai Technologies

Insider Buying and Selling at Akamai Technologies

In other Akamai Technologies news, EVP Paul Joseph sold 3,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.63, for a total value of $327,453.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 28,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,007,497.36. This trade represents a 9.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Akamai Technologies

Here are the key news stories impacting Akamai Technologies this week:

Positive Sentiment: Anthropic committed to pay Akamai $11.6 billion over seven years for access to Akamai Cloud’s distributed infrastructure and software, primarily to support growing CPU workloads. The agreement also allows for up to an additional $9 billion, creating a potential total commitment of approximately $20 billion. Reuters article
Positive Sentiment: The contract provides substantial long-term revenue visibility and could accelerate Akamai’s transition toward higher-growth AI and cloud infrastructure markets, where demand for computing capacity is expanding rapidly. Invezz article
Positive Sentiment: The announcement prompted a sharp rally in Akamai shares as analysts and investors reassessed the company’s growth prospects and strategic position in AI infrastructure. 247WallSt article
Neutral Sentiment: Akamai issued Anthropic a warrant for up to approximately 5% of its common stock; about 2% is expected to vest in connection with the initial commitment, with additional vesting tied to expansion of the relationship. Akamai press release
Negative Sentiment: The warrant could dilute existing shareholders, while fulfilling the agreement may require significant investment and carries execution and customer-concentration risks. Akamai’s valuation—near 40 times earnings—also leaves less room for disappointment if AI-related growth takes longer than expected.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akamai Technologies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Akamai Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at about $192,959,000. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Akamai Technologies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $222,046,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Akamai Technologies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $181,508,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Akamai Technologies in the second quarter worth approximately $159,564,000. Finally, Atreides Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Akamai Technologies in the second quarter worth approximately $107,640,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.28% of the company’s stock.

Akamai Technologies Stock Up 8.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $113.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $118.76. The company has a market cap of $17.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.63.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The technology infrastructure company reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.02. Akamai Technologies had a return on equity of 11.32% and a net margin of 9.51%.The business had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.73 earnings per share. Akamai Technologies’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Akamai Technologies has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.600-1.800 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 6.400-7.050 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Akamai Technologies, Inc. will post 3.63 EPS for the current year.

About Akamai Technologies

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Akamai Technologies, Inc is a global technology company that provides cloud computing, content delivery and cybersecurity services. Its distributed platform helps businesses deliver websites, applications, software downloads, video and other digital content with improved speed, availability and scalability.