Q3 Cleared EPS; Q4 Revenue and EPS Did Not Clear the Street
Akamai's investor relations release put revenue at $1.122 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2026, up 6% from $1.055 billion a year earlier and up 7% when adjusted for foreign exchange. GAAP diluted EPS was $0.77. Non-GAAP diluted EPS was $1.77. Non-GAAP operating margin was 25%, and adjusted EBITDA was $435 million. Cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities were about $4.239 billion at quarter-end.
Investing.com put Street consensus near $1.67 of adjusted EPS and about $1.12 billion of revenue, so the quarter beat on earnings and matched sales. Security revenue was $622 million, up 9%. Delivery and other cloud applications revenue was $391 million, down 3%. Cloud Infrastructure Services revenue was $109 million, up 34%.
Fourth-quarter guidance was the pressure point. The company guided revenue to $1.145 billion to $1.170 billion and non-GAAP EPS to $1.50 to $1.70. Investing.com put Street consensus near $1.197 billion of revenue and $1.78 of adjusted EPS, so both midpoints sat below estimates. Full-year 2026 revenue guidance is $4.440 billion to $4.465 billion, which Investing.com said trailed a roughly $4.49 billion consensus, with non-GAAP EPS guided to $6.47 to $6.68.
Fourteen Billion in CIS Commitments Versus a Soft Near-Term Band
CEO Tom Leighton said in the release that Akamai has signed more than $14 billion of multi-year commitments year to date and that Cloud Infrastructure Services momentum supports total-company revenue growth of 17% to 22% year over year in 2027 when adjusted for foreign exchange, with 2027 CIS revenue projected at $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion and 2028 total revenue projected to exceed $7.0 billion. Yahoo Finance / MarketBeat coverage of the call said CFO Ed McGowan tied roughly $30 million of fourth-quarter revenue slippage into 2027 to supply-chain and third-party data-center delays on two large deals, including work tied to a multi-year Anthropic agreement.
A beat on current-quarter EPS paired with a soft next-quarter band is a familiar cloud-infrastructure pattern on nights when the Street is already selling AI-adjacent names: the long-term commitment story can still look intact while traders reprice the path from today's CapEx and margin pressure into 2027 revenue.
Nine Percent Already Spent Before the Print
OptionSlam tracked a roughly 12.28% implied move on the November 6 weekly straddle and about 15.54% on the November 20 monthly into the report. Earnings Watcher listed AKAM among Thursday's after-close names with an implied move near ±12.5%. Stocknear showed a pre-report expected move of about ±$9.68, or 12.4%, into the November 6 expiry.
Thursday's $77.84 cash close was already about 9.4% below Wednesday's $85.93 close, so most of a weekly-sized move was spent before the release hit. An after-hours print near $79 to $80 is only about 1.6% to 2.8% above that cash close and still well inside the prepaid weekly and monthly bands measured from the pre-report reference near $86. The extended-hours low near $70.50 would be closer to an 18% gap from Wednesday and would sit nearer or past the monthly lower break-even. Delayed Cboe quotes are a reference for Friday's open rather than fills: spreads can widen after a cash-session rout, after-hours stock prints can fade or extend, and equity options do not trade until 9:30 AM ET.
Soft Guide After the Session Paid Put Holders First
When a name drops about 9% into the print and then only wobbles a few percent after a soft guide, short straddles and iron condors that collected the roughly 12% to 16% event premium are under less incremental directional pressure than names that cleared their bands by double digits after the close. Long puts that needed a clean break of the weekly lower break-even from Wednesday's close were partly paid in the cash session and only partially extended after hours if the stock holds near $79. Call debit spreads that needed a beat-and-rally face a tape that sold the stock before the soft Q4 band even printed. Our implied volatility guide covers how post-earnings IV usually compresses, and the OCC options disclosure document explains the risks of standardized options, including assignment.
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*By the OptionsPilot Editorial Team. Published November 5, 2026, 9:18 PM PT. This article is for education only and is not investment advice. Options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors.*
