Key Takeaways

  • Shares of Akamai gained 3% Friday following announcement of a major partnership expansion with Anthropic.

  • The AI firm committed to a seven-year, $11.6 billion infrastructure agreement with Akamai.

  • Total contract value may reach $20 billion if additional terms are exercised.

  • As part of the arrangement, Anthropic received warrants allowing purchase of up to 5% equity stake in Akamai.

  • Several major investment firms boosted their price targets on Akamai shares in response.

Shares of Akamai Technologies rallied 3% Friday following disclosure of a significantly expanded partnership with artificial intelligence developer Anthropic.

Under the terms disclosed, the partnership carries a baseline commitment of $11.6 billion spanning seven years, focused on delivering cloud computing capacity to power Anthropic’s artificial intelligence systems.

The arrangement includes provisions for expansion. Additional spending could add another $9 billion to the agreement, bringing the potential total commitment close to $20 billion.

Following the announcement, Akamai shares traded at $113.94. The stock’s 52-week trading range spans from $70.82 to $165.45.

Infrastructure Focus on CPU-Based AI Workloads

According to Akamai, the infrastructure being provided will primarily handle Anthropic’s CPU-based computational requirements. This highlights an evolving trend in artificial intelligence computing architecture.

While GPU chips have dominated AI model training activities, the deployment phase—referred to as inference—is showing increasing reliance on CPU-based processing power.

To put the scale in perspective, Akamai had previously reported $2.8 billion in long-term cloud customer commitments during its second-quarter earnings announcement last August.

Akamai’s CEO Tom Leighton highlighted the partnership, noting that the company’s worldwide presence and enterprise expertise make it well-suited to handle demanding AI infrastructure requirements securely.

Warrant Gives Anthropic Potential Ownership Position

The partnership includes a financial component giving Anthropic an equity pathway. The AI company received warrants enabling it to acquire convertible preferred shares representing approximately 5% of Akamai’s total outstanding equity.

These warrants carry an exercise price of $111.33 per share. Two percent of the warrant position became immediately exercisable upon announcement.

The remaining warrant portions vest incrementally based on expanded spending commitments. For every additional $3 billion Anthropic commits to the partnership, another 1% of the warrant becomes exercisable.

Analyst reactions came swiftly following the disclosure. RBC Capital maintained its Sector Perform stance while establishing a $135 price objective.

RBC increased both revenue projections and capital spending estimates for Akamai. The firm characterized the agreement as confirmation of Akamai’s competitive positioning in AI infrastructure markets.

Several other analysts adopted more optimistic stances. Piper Sandler lifted its target to $158, BofA Securities increased theirs to $185, while Guggenheim established a $225 objective.

Evercore ISI maintained its $175 target alongside an Outperform rating. UBS raised its price objective to $148.

Both Piper Sandler and Guggenheim continue to rate the stock as a Buy. Evercore ISI maintains its Outperform designation.

Analysts project the partnership will contribute approximately $1.66 billion in annual recurring revenue to Akamai’s financial results. This represents a substantial boost to the company’s cloud and infrastructure business lines.

Over the trailing twelve months, Akamai stock has delivered a 46% return, based on InvestingPro figures. The shares currently command a price-to-earnings multiple of 41.1.

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