AKAM vs FSLY: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of October 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

Reading it: AKAM is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. AKAM and FSLY share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined AKAM and FSLY exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Akamai Technologies (AKAM) operates one of the world's largest distributed edge computing and content delivery networks. Historically, Akamai made its name in content delivery (CDN): caching and serving web content and video from servers close to end users to make the internet faster and more reliable. That CDN business is mature and competitive, so Akamai has deliberately shifted its growth strategy toward two higher-value areas: cybersecurity (web application firewalls, bot management, DDoS protection, API security, and zero-trust access) and cloud computing (an edge and distributed cloud platform built partly on its 2022 acquisition of Linode). Security is now Akamai's largest and fastest-growing segment. The company sells to enterprises, media companies, financial institutions, and software firms that need fast, secure, and globally distributed delivery and protection. Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Akamai is a profitable, cash-generative infrastructure company managing the transition from a legacy CDN provider into a security and edge cloud platform.

Full AKAM guide

Fastly operates an edge cloud platform, a global network of high-throughput points of presence that sit between end users and its customers' origin servers. Its core business is a content delivery network (CDN) that caches and accelerates websites, apps, streaming, and APIs, prized by performance-driven customers for low latency and developer flexibility. On top of delivery, Fastly has built two faster-growing legs: a security suite (DDoS protection, bot management, and web-application firewall) and Compute, a developer-centric edge-compute product built on WebAssembly (Wasm) that runs code close to users, now supporting persistent key-value storage at the edge. Fastly typically wins on raw performance benchmarks and programmability rather than on price or breadth.

Full FSLY guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• AKAM drivers: Security as the growth engine; Edge and distributed cloud.
• FSLY drivers: Revenue reacceleration and turnaround; Security as a growth engine.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: The legacy CDN business is mature and intensely price-competitive, with rivals like Cloudflare and Fastly and the hyperscalers' own delivery services pressuring volumes and pricing. For FSLY, fastly is a small player competing against far larger, better-capitalized rivals: Cloudflare, which has a much broader platform and far larger revenue, and Akamai, the long-standing CDN incumbent, plus the hyperscalers (AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure) that bundle CDN and edge services.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick AKAM if you believe its drivers more; FSLY if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the AKAM and FSLY guides.

AKAM. The headline multiples point in opposite directions: ~32 times trailing GAAP earnings, depressed by depreciation and investment in cloud capacity, against ~13 times forward estimates built on non-GAAP EPS near $6.85 for 2027. After falling ~29% in three months, the stock trades well below the ~$159 mean target of 22 covering analysts, which says the market is skeptical that the cloud spending and higher debt will turn into faster growth. The November 5, 2026 report is the next checkpoint.

FSLY. These figures are approximate and tied to the asOf date; verify live numbers before acting. After more than doubling in 2026, Fastly trades at about 5 times trailing sales and about 35 times forward earnings estimates, with GAAP results still in the red, so the valuation leans heavily on continued revenue growth and margin expansion. Third-quarter results on November 4, 2026 (consensus about $0.12 per share on about $188 million of revenue) are the next check; the analysts' mean target is about $28.55.

Headline figures (approximate, October 2026): AKAM shows revenue (ttm) ~$4.32 billion, up ~5% year over year in the June 2026 quarter, margins ~57% gross, ~8% GAAP operating, ~9.5% net, net income (ttm) ~$411 million (GAAP EPS ~$2.76), latest quarter (q2 2026) Revenue ~$1.10 billion; non-GAAP EPS $1.59 vs $1.58 expected; FSLY shows revenue (ttm) ~$687 million; Q2 2026 a record ~$183.3 million, up ~23% year over year, 2026 revenue expectations Analyst consensus ~$741 million, ~$851 million for 2027, q2 2026 non-gaap eps ~$0.15 vs ~$0.07 expected, gaap net income (ttm) ~-$81 million (loss narrowing).

AKAM and FSLY are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined AKAM and FSLY exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.