Akamai Inks Deal With Microsoft For An Undisclosed Amount

Akamai Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:AKAM) is strengthening its product portfolio. The company recently announced partnership with Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) . Details of the transaction value were kept under wraps.

Per the deal, Akamai will integrate Microsoft Azure Media Services and Blob Storage with its content delivery network (CDN). This will help the company make it easier for media organizations to build video offerings in cloud and monetize the same.

Notably, Akamai will link its edge network to Azure ExpressRoute connection, thereby offering customers a lower, cost-effective structure between Azure and Akamai's CDN. Going forward, both companies will aid customers with advanced quality streaming delivery and lower latencies for their media workflows.

Per Akamai CEO Dr. Tom Leighton, "By combining the power of Microsoft Azure, Azure Media Services and Azure Storage with the vast reach of Akamai's Edge we will create an environment that mitigates cost while maximizing performance and scale for content providers."

Akamai believes that the integrated CDN will be more effective in assisting customers to access the cloud-based Microsoft Azure services for delivering enhanced online entertainment experiences.

Akamai Technologies, Inc. Price and Consensus

Akamai Technologies, Inc. Price and Consensus | Akamai Technologies, Inc. Quote

Last Words

Akamai is benefiting from a robust performance at its cloud security business plus notable growth in Media and Carrier Division.

The increasing clout of the company’s Kona Site Defender, Nominum Services, new Bot Manager Premier and Prolexic Solutions deserves a special mention.

In fact, Kona Site Defender recently secured the “Best Web Application Solution” award at the SC Media's 23rd annual SC Awards ceremony held at the RSA Conference in San Francisco

Management remains optimistic about the rising influence of its security solutions on media customers in particular.

Notably, Akamai is one of the notable cloud security providers. It exited fourth-quarter 2018 with a run-rate of around $750 million for security business.

Further, in the fourth quarter of 2018, Akamai reported Cloud Security Solutions (representing 26% of total revenues) revenues of $185 million, surging almost 36% year over year (up 38% adjusted for foreign exchange).

Solid growth was driven by strong demand for Enterprise Application Access and Enterprise Threat Protector.

Zacks Rank and Other Key Picks

Currently, Akamai carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Some other top-ranked stocks in the broader technology sector are Cadence Design Systems, Inc (NASDAQ:CDNS) and Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNPS) , both sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Cadence Design and Synopsys have a long-term earnings growth rate of 12% and 10%, respectively.

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