AKAM Stock Soars 20% on Anthropic Deal

TLDR

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The Anthropic contract is worth $11.6 billion, making it the largest deal in Akamai’s history.
The total commitment could reach $20 billion if Anthropic purchases an additional $9 billion of cloud services.
Akamai expects revenue from the deal to begin in 2027, with an annualized run rate near $1.7 billion by late 2028.
Akamai plans about $5.5 billion in infrastructure spending to build the computing capacity needed for the Anthropic agreement.

Akamai’s AKAM stock jumped 20.7% to $133.21 in extended trading after Akamai announced a seven-year agreement with Anthropic worth $11.6 billion. The contract expands their existing relationship and becomes the largest customer deal in Akamai’s history.

Anthropic will use Akamai’s distributed cloud infrastructure and software for growing CPU workloads. The commitment could reach $20 billion if Anthropic buys another $9 billion of services. The agreement gives Akamai a larger role in artificial intelligence infrastructure. Akamai has historically trailed Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud in overall global cloud scale. The Anthropic agreement adds a major AI customer to its platform.

Revenue Ramp Starts in 2027

Akamai expects no revenue from the expanded contract in 2026. It forecasts $150 million to $300 million during the second half of 2027. Revenue should then rise toward a $1.7 billion annualized run rate by late 2028. Oracle’s recent AI cloud growth also shows how infrastructure demand is lifting cloud revenue across the sector.

The agreement uses a take-or-pay model. Anthropic must pay after Akamai provides the agreed computing capacity. This structure gives Akamai clearer revenue visibility and limits unused capacity risk after the company makes large infrastructure investments.

Akamai Plans $5.5 Billion Buildout

Akamai expects to spend about $5.5 billion over the next two years to support the contract. The company plans $1.7 billion in spending during the fourth quarter of 2026 and another $3.1 billion during 2027.

A further $700 million should follow in 2028 as Akamai finishes the required capacity. Management expects temporary margin pressure because data centers, equipment and power must arrive before contract revenue reaches full scale. Marvell’s new AI data center technology reflects similar spending across supporting infrastructure.

Cloud Contracts Expand Revenue Base

Akamai has now secured about $14.4 billion in committed revenue from cloud infrastructure contracts signed this year. Management expects those agreements to generate about $2.2 billion in annual recurring revenue after customers fully use the contracted capacity. CoreWeave’s latest cloud infrastructure update also shows continued demand for large computing platforms.

The company expects its recently signed AI cloud contracts to require 95 to 105 megawatts of power. Once fully operational, Akamai expects the infrastructure to generate about $22 million in annual revenue per megawatt. Investors will track spending, delivery schedules, and revenue conversion as the contracts move into service.

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