Akamai Cuts 2024 Guidance Amid Industry Slowdown, Stock Falls 8%; Shift4 Payments Raises Forecast

Akamai Technologies has revised its full-year 2024 guidance, reflecting the impact of a stronger U.S. dollar, cost optimizations by a major social media client, and a general slowdown in traffic growth across the industry. The company now expects compute revenue growth of about 21% to 23% in constant currency and estimates a non-GAAP operating margin of approximately 28% to 29%. Despite a strong first-quarter performance with revenue of $987 million, an 8% increase year-over-year, and significant gains in GAAP net income per diluted share of $1.11, up 79% year-over-year and 81% when adjusted for foreign exchange, the revised guidance led to a pre-market stock decline of 8.0%. In contrast, Shift4 Payments tightened its full-year guidance, expecting end-to-end volume to range between $167 billion and $175 billion, marking a 53% to 61% year-over-year growth, and increased the lower end of its adjusted EBITDA range.