14 DAY TRIAL // Content-delivery network Akamai Technologies reported earnings for the second quarter, slightly missing analysts' expectations. The company made $204.6 million in revenue in Q2, a five-percent rise year over year, bellow the estimated $211 million, leading to a ten-percent drop in share price after the market closed. The revenue marked a three-percent drop from the previous quarter, when the company brought in $210.4 million. The per share non-GAAP income was at 40 cents.
“Our operating performance reflects solid execution in the face of difficult market conditions for many of our clients,” Paul Sagan, president and CEO of Akamai, said. “In today's challenging environment, our scale and strong balance sheet give us the flexibility to support changing customer requirements, particularly in the media and entertainment vertical where traffic growth has been accelerating. Further, we continued to experience good traction with our newer, value-added solutions, such as application performance services and dynamic site acceleration.”
The GAAP net income for the second quarter was at $36 million, a five-percent yearly growth from $34.3 million in 2008, but a three-percent drop from Q1, when the company made a $37.1-million profit. The operating cash was of $105 million in Q2, up from $91 million in Q1, and of $196 million for the past 12 months, a 24-percent rise from the previous 12 trailing months. At the end of the quarter, the company had $927 million in cash and cash equivalents.
For the coming quarter, Akamai estimates a revenue of $195 million to $203 million, significantly below the analysts' expectations of $226.2 million. Akamai CEO Paul Sagan told Reuters that the company was still cautious about the economic conditions at the moment and blamed the poor performance in the second quarter on the troubles some small businesses had been having, leading to cancellations of the services, as well as the restructuring of one of its bigger customers.