Why Akamai Technologies Soared

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Akamai Technologies (NAS: AKAM) have soared today by as much as 24% after the company posted a solid second-quarter-earnings release.

So what: Revenue jumped 20% to $331 million, with adjusted net income of $78 million, or $0.43 per share. Those results easily topped the market's forecasts of $325.7 million in sales and $0.37 per share in adjusted profit. CEO Paul Sagan even said he hasn't "been this pleased in a long time."

Now what: Sagan attributed the results to adoption of Akamai's cloud infrastructure offerings and continued growth of its core content delivery business. The company also repurchased roughly 2 million shares during the quarter for $67 million. Jefferies and Dougherty & Co are out with bullish sentiments following the release, saying Akamai is early in its product cycles and stands to continue to benefit from Internet growth. Both firms rate Akamai a "buy" with a $43 price target.

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The article Why Akamai Technologies Soared originally appeared on Fool.com.

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