Akamai Q3 2025 Earnings: Security Growth and a 142% Profit Jump

Akamai Technologies, the company that powers and protects a significant portion of the internet, recently filed its quarterly report for the period ending September 30, 2025. For anyone interested in the plumbing of the digital world, this 10-Q filing offers a clear look into the company's financial health and strategic direction. Let's break down the key numbers and see what they tell us about Akamai's performance.

A Tale of Three Segments

Akamai's business is a story of strategic transition. The company reports its revenue across three main solution categories: Security, Delivery, and Cloud Computing. For the third quarter of 2025, total revenue grew a modest 5% year-over-year to $1.05 billion. However, the real story is under the hood:

• Security: This segment is the clear growth engine, with revenue jumping 10% to $568 million. Now representing 54% of total revenue, these solutions, which protect websites and infrastructure from attacks, are Akamai's largest and fastest-growing business.
• Cloud Computing: Showing strong momentum, this segment grew 8% to $180 million. This includes services like cloud storage and computing, a key area of investment for Akamai as it competes with hyperscale cloud providers.
• Delivery: This is Akamai's legacy Content Delivery Network (CDN) business, which helps speed up websites and video streaming. This segment saw a 4% decline in revenue to $306 million, continuing a trend of shifting focus towards higher-growth areas.

This data clearly shows Akamai successfully pivoting its business mix from its traditional delivery services to the more in-demand fields of cybersecurity and cloud infrastructure.

To visualize how the company's revenue translates into profit, the following flow diagram illustrates the income statement for the third quarter of 2025.

The Dramatic Leap in Profitability

The most striking figure in the report is the surge in net income. Akamai posted a net income of $140.2 million for the quarter, a massive 142% increase from the $57.9 million reported in the same quarter last year.

So, what fueled this incredible jump? The primary driver wasn't a sudden explosion in operational efficiency, but rather the absence of a major one-time expense from the previous year. In Q3 2024, Akamai recorded a significant restructuring charge of $82 million. In Q3 2025, that charge was gone, replaced by a negligible restructuring benefit of $15 thousand. This single line item accounts for the bulk of the year-over-year increase in profitability.

When we look at non-GAAP metrics, which exclude such one-time charges and other items like stock-based compensation, we get a more stable picture of the company's underlying operational health. Non-GAAP income from operations grew a healthy 9% to $322 million, and the non-GAAP operating margin expanded slightly from 29% to 31%, indicating solid, steady improvement.

Capital Strategy: Refinancing and Repurchases

Akamai has also been actively managing its finances. The company has been aggressive in its share repurchase program, buying back nearly $800 million of its stock in the first nine months of 2025, nearly double the $419 million repurchased in the same period of 2024. This signals management's confidence in the company's value and is a direct way to return capital to shareholders.

Furthermore, the company executed a significant debt refinancing, issuing $1.725 billion in new convertible notes due in 2033 while paying off $1.15 billion in notes that were coming due in 2025. This move extends their debt maturity profile and solidifies their financial foundation for the long term.

Looking Ahead

Akamai's latest report paints a picture of a company in a successful, deliberate transition. While the legacy CDN business is shrinking, strong growth in the Security and Cloud Computing segments is more than making up for it. The headline profit numbers are skewed by last year's restructuring, but the underlying business shows stable and improving profitability.

Facing intense competition from cloud giants like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, as well as focused rivals like Cloudflare, Akamai's challenge remains to innovate and capture market share in the hyper-competitive cloud and security landscape. Based on these results, their strategy appears to be on the right track.