FFIV vs AKAM Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
FFIV is transitioning its legacy application delivery hardware business toward software and multi-cloud security subscriptions, while AKAM is diversifying its legacy CDN business into faster-growing security and cloud computing services. Both are established infrastructure companies navigating secular transitions in their core legacy businesses.
FFIV vs AKAM compares two established enterprise infrastructure companies, both working to offset legacy business deceleration with faster-growing security and cloud-oriented services.
FFIV holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. FFIV has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+28.26% vs +15.43%), though AKAM has the better forward P/E setup (14.86x vs 21.81x for FFIV). FFIV leads on both revenue growth (10.90%) and operating margin (24.65%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for AKAM (+43.57%) than for FFIV (+10.62%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- Want exposure to a sticky, enterprise-focused application delivery and security vendor
- Value F5's successful software and subscription transition
- Prefer a more established, steadier infrastructure company
- Want exposure to a leading global edge network diversifying into security and cloud computing
- Believe Akamai's faster-growing security segment can offset legacy CDN decline
- See value in Akamai's expanding cloud infrastructure business
| Metric | FFIV | AKAM |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 43.5 | 38.9 |
| AI ranki | #293 | #1217 |
| Latest closei | $324.55 | $86.69 |
| 1M returni | -28.52% | -20.41% |
| 3M returni | -20.13% | -26.46% |
| 6M returni | -1.63% | -18.05% |
| 1Y returni | +28.26% | +15.43% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | FFIV | AKAM |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $13.03K (+30.3%) started 2025-11-03 | $11.63K (+16.3%) started 2025-11-03 |
| 5Y ago | $14.62K (+46.2%) started 2021-11-03 | $7.82K (-21.8%) started 2021-11-03 |
| 10Y ago | $23.55K (+135.5%) started 2016-11-03 | $13.03K (+30.3%) started 2016-11-03 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | FFIV | AKAM |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $22.32B | $15.35B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 31.44 | 38.69 |
| Forward P/Ei | 21.81 | 14.86 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 6.34 | 4.93 |
| Analyst targeti | $436.10 | $153.31 |
| Target upsidei | +10.62% | +43.57% |
| Metric | FFIV | AKAM |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 10.90% | 5.40% |
| Earnings growthi | 11.40% | -26.80% |
| EPS growthi | +11.40% | -26.80% |
| FCF margini | +21.67% | +16.43% |
| Operating margini | 24.65% | 7.63% |
| Profit margini | 21.95% | 9.51% |
| ROIC proxyi | 19.83% | 8.92% |
| Return on equityi | 19.83% | 8.92% |
| Dividend yieldi | N/A | N/A |
| Payout ratioi | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Dividend growth streaki | N/A | N/A |
| Betai | 1.03 | 0.64 |
| Debt/equityi | 6.55 | 196.67 |
| Current ratioi | 1.67 | 1.64 |
| Quick ratioi | 1.48 | 1.52 |
Over the past year, FFIV and AKAM have moved weakly in the same direction (correlation of 0.35), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | FFIV | AKAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +30.32% | +16.32% |
| CAGRi | +30.43% | +16.37% | |
| Volatilityi | 41.15% | 63.56% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.76 | 0.48 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.99 | 0.75 | |
| Max drawdowni | 32.36% | 46.20% | |
| Current drawdowni | 32.36% | 46.20% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 3.73% | 15.84% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 5.40% | 20.82% | |
| Max daily dropi | 20.43% | 16.66% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 28.74% | 22.58% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +46.21% | -21.81% |
| CAGRi | +7.90% | -4.80% | |
| Volatilityi | 32.38% | 39.65% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.26 | -0.04 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.36 | -0.05 | |
| Max drawdowni | 47.42% | 46.84% | |
| Current drawdowni | 32.36% | 46.20% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 21.67% | 23.61% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 26.21% | 26.43% | |
| Max daily dropi | 20.43% | 21.73% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 28.74% | 23.01% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +135.51% | +30.32% |
| CAGRi | +8.94% | +2.68% | |
| Volatilityi | 30.72% | 35.46% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.29 | 0.13 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.40 | 0.18 | |
| Max drawdowni | 54.59% | 46.84% | |
| Current drawdowni | 32.36% | 46.20% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 19.10% | 17.35% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 23.63% | 21.27% | |
| Max daily dropi | 20.43% | 21.73% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 28.74% | 23.01% |
| Category | FFIV | AKAM |
|---|---|---|
| Company | F5, Inc. | Akamai Technologies, Inc. |
| Sector | Technology | Technology |
| Industry | Software - Infrastructure | Software - Infrastructure |
| Core business | F5 provides application delivery controllers, load balancing, and application security software and hardware, helping enterprises manage and secure the performance of business-critical applications across hybrid and multi-cloud environments. | Akamai Technologies operates one of the world's largest content delivery networks (CDN), increasingly diversifying into cloud security, zero trust, and cloud computing infrastructure services beyond its legacy CDN business. |
| Investor focus | Investors track F5's software and subscription revenue growth as it transitions away from legacy hardware, and adoption of its multi-cloud application security and delivery portfolio. | Investors track Akamai's security and cloud computing segment revenue growth, which has been outpacing its more mature, slower-growing legacy CDN delivery business. |
- Strong, sticky enterprise relationships around mission-critical application delivery infrastructure
- Successful transition toward higher-margin software and subscription revenue
- Differentiated multi-cloud application security capabilities
- Massive global edge network infrastructure provides a strong foundation for new services
- Fast-growing security revenue segment increasingly offsets legacy CDN deceleration
- Expanding cloud computing infrastructure business diversifies beyond content delivery
- Legacy hardware-based application delivery controller business faces secular decline
- Faces competition from both cloud-native security vendors and legacy networking competitors
- Growth has been more modest than faster-growing cybersecurity pure-plays
- Legacy CDN delivery business faces secular pricing and growth pressure
- Cloud computing infrastructure business is still relatively early-stage and unproven at scale
- Faces competition from both larger cloud providers and specialized CDN/security vendors
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