Akamai Technologies (AKAM) Exceeds Market Returns: Some Facts to Consider

In this article:

Akamai Technologies (AKAM) closed the most recent trading day at $109.60, moving +1.68% from the previous trading session. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.89% gain on the day. On the other hand, the Dow registered a gain of 1.03%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 1.25%.

Heading into today, shares of the cloud services provider had lost 0.53% over the past month, lagging the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 3.77% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.56% in that time.

Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Akamai Technologies in its upcoming release. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $1.61, marking a 15% rise compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $989.08 million, up 8.01% from the year-ago period.

Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $6.74 per share and revenue of $4.09 billion, indicating changes of +8.71% and +7.17%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

Furthermore, it would be beneficial for investors to monitor any recent shifts in analyst projections for Akamai Technologies. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant. As of now, Akamai Technologies holds a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Investors should also note Akamai Technologies's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 15.99. This indicates a discount in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 25.69.

Investors should also note that AKAM has a PEG ratio of 2.18 right now. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Internet - Services industry held an average PEG ratio of 2.26.

The Internet - Services industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 67, positioning it in the top 27% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (AKAM) : Free Stock Analysis Report

To read this article on Zacks.com click here.

Zacks Investment Research

Advertisement