Akamai'US$8.51B Anthropic deal lifts revenue growth outlook to 16%
What's the deal? Akamai TechnologiesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → signed an $11.6 billion agreement with AI platform AnthropicDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → to supply additional computing capacity over the next seven years. Shares briefly jumped around 14% in morning trade before easing to about 5% on Friday. Analysts across Wall Street responded by reassessing the stock.
Why it matters: Morgan StanleyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → expects the deal to lift Akamai's revenue growth estimates from 12.5% to about 16%, up sharply from the 5% reported in 2025. The bank based that on management's forecast that the deal could add between $150 million and $300 million in 2027.
What's the endgame? Akamai will provide dedicated cloud computing capacity and managed support services to meet Anthropic's accelerating CPU workload demands. DA DavidsonDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → said demand is building across AI workloads, including conversational voice agents, robotics, real-time video, and simulation rendering.
By the numbers: OppenheimerDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → estimates Akamai will spend about $5.5 billion to build the required capacity. Anthropic's roughly $1.7 billion contracted run-rate implies about 77 megawatts, at an average of $22 million in annual revenue per megawatt. That puts the build at about $70 million per megawatt, with US$1.1B memory pre-buy accounting for part of it and the remaining spend estimated at about $3.8 billion.
What the analysts say: Morgan Stanley kept an Overweight rating and $165 price target, saying bookings momentum in Cloud Infrastructure Services validates an improving structural growth profile. DA Davidson maintained a Buy rating and $185 target, while Oppenheimer held Outperform with US$116.5 target.
The other view: UBSDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → raised its target to $148 from $143 but stayed Neutral. RBC CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → kept its Sector Perform rating and $135 target, calling the momentum encouraging and saying the deal "further validates Akamai's AI infrastructure strategy."
The signal: A single large contract is reshaping how the market values Akamai, turning a low-growth infrastructure business into an AI capacity play. The scale of the required spending — billions in capital before revenue fully arrives — shows how the AI buildout is pulling established providers into heavy, long-term commitments.
Read more: finance.yahoo.com
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