Why Akamai Stock Is Up Today
Key Points
Akamai will supply Anthropic with cloud infrastructure capacity.
Anthropic also received a warrant to purchase up to 5% of Akamai's stock.
- 10 stocks we like better than Akamai Technologies ›
Shares of Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ: AKAM) rose on Friday after the cloud computing and cybersecurity specialist expanded its relationship with leading artificial intelligence (AI) model maker Anthropic.
Image source: Getty Images.
Missed AI’s "Act 1"? Act 2 Could Be 15x Bigger. Most investors think they missed the AI boat because they didn't buy Nvidia in 2005. But according to our analysts, we’re only at the end of "Act 1"—the R&D phase. "Act 2" is the global rollout. Continue »
Partnering with an AI pioneer
Anthropic is committed to using $11.6 billion of Akamai's cloud infrastructure services over seven years. The deal can be increased by up to $9 billion, bringing the total potential value to over $20 billion.
For context, Akamai previously announced $2.8 billion in multi-year cloud customer commitments in its second-quarter earnings release in August.
Akamai said its infrastructure will support Anthropic's fast-growing central processor unit (CPU) workload demands. It's a notable statement, as it provides more evidence that AI computing needs are shifting beyond graphics processing unit (GPU)-powered model training to CPU-supported inference workloads.
Anthropic could become a major investor in Akamai
As part of the deal, Anthropic received a warrant to buy convertible preferred stock representing roughly 5% of Akamai's outstanding shares for $111.33 per share.
A portion of the warrant representing 2% of those shares vested along with the deal's announcement. The remainder will vest if Anthropic expands the agreement by the aforementioned $9 billion, in increments of 1% for every $3 billion commitment.
This deal with Anthropic should help accelerate Akamai's expansion by establishing it as a key supplier of distributed computing capacity to the world's leading AI model developers.
"Our expanding global footprint, combined with our years of experience serving the world's largest enterprises, positions us to be the infrastructure provider for secure and responsible AI applications and workloads," Akamai CEO Tom Leighton said.
Should you buy stock in Akamai Technologies right now?
Before you buy stock in Akamai Technologies, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Akamai Technologies wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $386,781!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,379,943!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 936% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 213% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
See the 10 stocks »
*Stock Advisor returns as of September 25, 2026.
Joe Tenebruso has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Akamai Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Recommended Articles
