0908 ET - Akamai's fourth-quarter results beat expectations but the stock falls 7.7% on elevated capital-spending plans for 2026. The company is investing about $250 million to grow its artificial-intelligence inference cloud and is seeing "significant inflationary pressure within the computer hardware market," JPMorgan analysts say. That spending will weigh on profitability and cash-flow margins in the near to medium term, the analysts say. Akamai is managing a "challenging macroeconomic environment while facing pressures in certain pockets of its business, particularly in the price-sensitive delivery space," the analysts say. "We remain cognizant of the debt load, slow top-line growth, and margin pressures due to price-competitive end markets," they say. (nicholas.miller@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 20, 2026 09:08 ET (14:08 GMT)

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