Wrapping up Q4 earnings, we look at the numbers and key takeaways for the content delivery stocks, including Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) and its peers.
The amount of content on the internet is exploding, whether it is music, movies and or e-commerce stores. Consumer demand for this content creates network congestion, much like a digital traffic jam which drives demand for specialized content delivery networks (CDN) services that alleviate potential network bottlenecks.
The 4 content delivery stocks we track reported a slower Q4. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 2.7% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was in line.
Amidst this news, share prices of the companies have had a rough stretch. On average, they are down 9.3% since the latest earnings results.
Cloudflare (NYSE:NET)
Founded by two grad students of Harvard Business School, Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) is a software-as-a-service platform that helps improve the security, reliability, and loading times of internet applications.
Cloudflare reported revenues of $459.9 million, up 26.9% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 1.8%. Despite the top-line beat, it was still a mixed quarter for the company with a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates but full-year EPS guidance missing analysts’ expectations.
“We had a very strong end of 2024. We saw record growth in our largest customers, those that spend more than $1 million with Cloudflare per year—closing the year with 173. We added 55 of those customers in 2024, and more than half of these new additions came in during fourth quarter alone,” said Matthew Prince, co-founder & CEO of Cloudflare.
Cloudflare scored the fastest revenue growth of the whole group. The stock is up 3% since reporting and currently trades at $145.68.
Is now the time to buy Cloudflare? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.
Best Q4: F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV)
Initially started as a hardware appliances company in the late 1990s, F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) makes software that helps large enterprises ensure their web applications are always available by distributing network traffic and protecting them from cyberattacks.
F5 reported revenues of $766.5 million, up 10.7% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 7.2%. The business had a strong quarter with a solid beat of analysts’ billings estimates and an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.
F5 achieved the biggest analyst estimates beat among its peers. The market seems happy with the results as the stock is up 9% since reporting. It currently trades at $293.99.
Is now the time to buy F5? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.
Weakest Q4: Akamai (NASDAQ:AKAM)
Founded in 1999 by two engineers from MIT, Akamai (NASDAQ:AKAM) provides software for organizations to efficiently deliver web content to their customers.
Akamai reported revenues of $1.02 billion, up 2.5% year on year, in line with analysts’ expectations. It was a softer quarter as it posted full-year guidance of slowing revenue growth.
Akamai delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates and weakest full-year guidance update in the group. As expected, the stock is down 17% since the results and currently trades at $81.42.
Read our full analysis of Akamai’s results here.
Fastly (NYSE:FSLY)
Founded in 2011, Fastly (NYSE:FSLY) provides content delivery and edge cloud computing services, enabling enterprises and developers to deliver fast, secure, and scalable digital content and experiences.
Fastly reported revenues of $140.6 million, up 2% year on year. This number surpassed analysts’ expectations by 1.5%. More broadly, it was a softer quarter as it produced full-year EPS guidance missing analysts’ expectations.
Fastly pulled off the highest full-year guidance raise but had the slowest revenue growth among its peers. The stock is down 32.3% since reporting and currently trades at $6.82.
Read our full, actionable report on Fastly here, it’s free.
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