S&P 500 — US Large Cap Index
FTSE 100 — UK Blue Chips
Euro Stoxx 50 — Eurozone Leaders
DAX 40 — German Equities
CAC 40 — French Market Index
Nikkei 225 — Japan Benchmark
Hang Seng — Hong Kong Index
Shanghai Composite — China Mainland
ASX 200 — Australian Market
TSX Composite — Canada Index
Nifty 50 — India Large Cap
STI Index — Singapore Market
KOSPI — South Korea Index
Bovespa — Brazil Equities
JSE Top 40 — South Africa Index
IPC Index — Mexico Market
Akamai joins the big league and signs a deal with Anthropic! Shares “soar” 23%
Shares of Akamai Technologies (AKAM.US) rose more than 22% in premarket trading to around $135 per share following the announcement of a seven-year, $11.6 billion deal with the artificial intelligence lab Anthropic. The deal seals the network giant’s rapid transformation into a key provider of cloud infrastructure for AI. Akamai Technologies, a company previously known primarily as a global leader in content delivery networks (CDNs) and a provider of cybersecurity services that protect corporate internet traffic, has been expanding its cloud computing segment for several years. The contract with Anthropic—the creator of the Claude family of AI models and one of OpenAI’s main rivals—is intended to provide the computing power (primarily in the area of CPUs) necessary to handle growing AI workloads. The agreement also includes an option to expand the partnership by an additional $9 billion, which would bring the total value of the transaction to over $20 billion.
Shares in Exchange for Long-Term Orders
As part of the agreement, Akamai issued a warrant to Anthropic to purchase Series B preferred shares at a price of $111.33 per share. Upon conversion to common stock (approximately 7.7 million shares), this stake would give the AI provider up to a 5% stake in Akamai’s equity structure. The right to acquire approximately 2% of the shares is directly linked to the first phase of the $11.6 billion contract. The remaining 3% will be earned gradually as Anthropic potentially expands its orders. “Anthropic is driving the AI revolution, and our globally distributed infrastructure is ideally suited to meet the need for secure and scalable deployment of advanced AI applications,” said Tom Leighton, president and co-founder of Akamai, in a statement.
Investments and the Supply Chain
Fulfilling the contract requires significant capital expenditures from Akamai. The company estimates the total capital expenditures associated with the initial commitment at approximately $5.5 billion. In 2026 alone, the company’s capital expenditures will increase by $1.7 billion, which is intended to secure and purchase the necessary components in advance. In a separate filing, Akamai announced that it had authorized its contract manufacturer, Jabil, to purchase approximately $1.7 billion worth of memory components to secure the supply chain. The company’s management noted that the increased capital expenditures do not affect the current revenue forecasts for 2026.
Source: XTB
