Akamai Easily Jumps Through Q3 Hoops

Content delivery networking giant Akamai (NASDAQ:AKAM, news, filings) had no trouble at all meeting the market’s expectations with their Q3 earnings report.  I had worried that the market has been a bit on edge lately when viewing the sector, but my fears now seem unwarranted.  Revenues came in above guidance, while earnings per share was mostly inline.  Here is a quick table summarizing the numbers:

$ in millions	Q3/09	Q4/09	Q1/10	Q2/10	Q3/10	Q4/10 (guidance)
Revenue	206.5	238.3	240.0	245.3	253.6	272-285
COS	62.0	67.6	67.4	71.8	77.8
SG&A+R&D	89.7	104.4	102.4	112.5	112.6
Gross Margin	70.0%	71.6%	71.9%	70.7%	69.3%	69%
Adj. Fully Taxed EPS	0.28	0.34	0.35	0.34	0.34	0.35-0.38

Fourth quarter revenue guidance was actually better than anticipated, as the company continues to find opportunities for solid organic growth.  The high end of that guidance would come into play if the holiday shopping season is particularly strong, as the company’s push into advertising services and other services has brought with it greater dependence on consumer spending.  Adjusted EPS guidance for Q4 was perhaps a bit lighter than the street’s expectations of about $0.38, but still mostly in-line.  Thus far, the company’s stock is responding favorably after hours.

They also gave a bit of a view into 2011, suggesting that the 15% growth projected by analysts is ‘conservative’ although they are not yet actually putting any of their own numbers into the mix.

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