Goldman Sachs initiated coverage on Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) with a Sell rating and a 12-month price target of $67.00, representing about 5% downside from current levels.
The firm highlighted Akamai’s globally distributed infrastructure of more than 4,000 points of presence, initially built for high-performance content delivery and now leveraged into growth areas including Security — such as microsegmentation and API security — and Compute, with offerings from Linode and new compute demand.
However, Goldman expressed skepticism about Akamai’s ability to deliver consistent growth across all segments. The bank noted that the stock’s discounted valuation, at about a 10% EV/FCF discount compared with peers of similar growth, partially reflects this view. Goldman’s 2026 free cash flow estimate is 5% below consensus, and the analysts said a multiple re-rating would require clearer progress in stabilizing Security revenue growth, improving Compute segment returns on capital expenditures, and demonstrating long-term stability in Delivery.
