Akamai Technologies Sees 28% Stock Surge Following $1.8B AI Cloud Contract with Anthropic
Akamai Technologies shares experienced a 28% surge on Friday, following the announcement of a substantial $1.8 billion, seven-year cloud infrastructure contract with AI company Anthropic. This contract represents the largest customer agreement in the company’s history.
The cybersecurity and cloud computing firm reported a first-quarter revenue of $1.074 billion, a 6% increase from the previous year. This growth was largely driven by a 40% jump in its cloud infrastructure services, which reached $95 million. CEO Tom Leighton confirmed that a “leading frontier model provider” has committed to the multi-billion dollar contract for cloud infrastructure services. Bloomberg later identified this customer as Anthropic.
The deal not only validates Akamai’s position as a crucial infrastructure provider in the AI economy, but is also projected to generate approximately $20 million to $25 million in revenue by the fourth quarter of 2026. Analysts at KeyBanc have subsequently raised their price target for Akamai to $195 from $120, citing the expansion of Akamai’s AI inference revenue base as a dominant theme for the company’s future financials.
Source: CNBC