New York, Feb 20, 2026, 06:15 (ET) — Premarket
- Akamai shares slid about 9% before the bell, with the company’s Q1 profit forecast missing estimates.
- The company is starting to feel the pinch from rising memory costs, but it maintained a 2026 revenue outlook that topped forecasts.
- Traders are watching to see if the selloff holds during the regular session. Investors, meanwhile, sift through margins and spending plans.
Akamai Technologies Inc slid 8.8% in premarket action Friday, trading at $99.94. The cybersecurity and cloud provider flagged that earnings are set to miss Wall Street forecasts. On Thursday, shares finished at $109.59.
Costs are surging, not demand faltering—that’s what’s catching eyes. Akamai’s first-quarter adjusted earnings outlook missed Wall Street targets, with the company blaming a tighter memory chip market as tech giants pour money into AI data centers. “The cost of memory has probably doubled over the last couple of months,” CEO Tom Leighton told Reuters. Akamai is considering price increases, but Leighton emphasized they’re being “very careful” about how much they’ll pass along to customers. Reuters
Akamai expects first-quarter revenue to land somewhere between $1.06 billion and $1.085 billion, with adjusted EPS projected at $1.50 to $1.67. Looking out to 2026, the company is guiding for revenue in the $4.40 billion to $4.55 billion range, along with adjusted EPS of $6.20 to $7.20. Non-GAAP operating margin is pegged at 26% to 28%—that strips out things like restructuring charges. Capital expenditures are forecast at 23% to 26% of revenue for the year, highlighting the company’s push to beef up its cloud infrastructure.
Akamai’s quarter came in with few surprises. The company reported fourth-quarter revenue at $1.095 billion, and non-GAAP earnings per share of $1.84. Cloud Infrastructure Services revenue popped 45% year over year; security notched an 11% gain. CEO Tom Leighton cited stronger appetite for newer products, singling out the “Akamai Inference Cloud” as AI work moves from pilots into real-world rollouts. GlobeNewswire
Still, it’s margin direction that’s got traders second-guessing. Akamai’s outlook highlights persistent cost pressures: heavier spending on infrastructure, higher component prices. Revenue? That part isn’t budging.
Akamai’s positioning is still a tough nut to crack. Its security and cloud push is starting to catch more eyes, but the drag from its old delivery business lingers in the numbers. Now, the company is staring down competition from niche edge and security players—not to mention the hyperscalers, who bring those bundled, everything-under-one-roof services.
The risk? If memory prices stay high and Akamai can’t lift its own pricing without stunting new customer growth, margins could come in slimmer than management suggests. With capital expenditures running near 25% of revenue, that pressure tightens further.
Traders will be eyeing the stock as the cash market kicks off, waiting to see if it can steady. Another key focus: U.S. economic numbers due at 8:30 a.m. ET. The core PCE inflation print lands then—often a catalyst for shifting rate bets and moving tech shares.
