Akamai sees Q4 profit above estimates on strong demand for cybersecurity services

(Reuters) - Akamai Technologies forecast fourth-quarter adjusted profit above Wall Street estimates on Tuesday, helped by strong demand for its cloud security services as rapid digitalization raises the risk of high-profile hacks.

Shares of the company were up 3.6% in aftermarket trading.

Spending on cybersecurity services have stayed resilient amid growing cyber crimes and privacy concerns even as companies tightened the budgets for other IT services.

Worldwide spending on cybersecurity solutions is expected to rise 12.1% to hit $219 billion in 2023, according to data from market analytics firm International Data Corporation.

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Akamai expects fourth-quarter adjusted profit at about $1.57 per share, compared with analysts average estimate of $1.54 per share, according to LSEG data.

The cybersecurity firm counts the U.S. Department of Labor, the Census Bureau and the Department of Defense among its customers, besides companies such as Adobe, eBay and Electronic Arts.

Akamai's security and compute revenue represented 61% of total revenue in the third quarter and combined grew 20% year-over-year.

The company reported revenue of $965 million and adjusted profit of $1.63 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30. Analysts expected revenue at $943.32 million and adjusted profit at $1.50 per share.

(Reporting by Tanya Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)