AKAM vs FFIV vs ERIC Stock Comparison

Akamai Technologies, F5 and Ericsson Lm Telephone Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
AKAM Akamai Technologies Inc
$99.59 -12.6% 1M +31.9% 1Y
Market cap
$14.20B
P/E
34.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.32B
Div. yield
–
Content Delivery Networks Technology
5 wins
FFIV F5, Inc.
$459.36 +3.7% 1M +58.2% 1Y
Market cap
$21.04B
P/E
29.1x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Cybersecurity Software Technology
3 wins
ERIC Ericsson Lm Telephone Co
$11.08 +16.3% 1M +17.5% 1Y
Market cap
$36.78B
P/E
18.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$24.56B
Div. yield
-0.03%
Networking Equipment Technology
2 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Akamai Technologies leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Akamai Technologies 5, F5 3, Ericsson Lm Telephone 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAKAMFFIVERICLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $14.20B $21.04B $36.78B ERIC
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 34.5x 29.1x 18.0x ERIC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 15.8x 28.3x 17.0x AKAM
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.9% — -38.5% AKAM
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 9.5% — 8.3% AKAM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — 20.0% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -1.4x — -0.6x AKAM
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% -0.03% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +31.9% +58.2% +17.5% FFIV
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -1.0%/yr +16.6%/yr +0.1%/yr FFIV
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 61.4% 35.0% 36.5% FFIV
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 63/100 — 61/100 AKAM

Percentile Scorecard

AKAMFFIVERIC

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisAKAMFFIVERIC
Valuation 87 #6 of 38 69 #39 of 124 87 #15 of 112
Growth 14 #31 of 36 38 #70 of 113 47 #58 of 109
Profitability 79 #8 of 34 – 86 #15 of 104
Financial Health 78 #9 of 38 – 38 #72 of 116
Shareholder Returns 55 #10 of 21 – 48 #43 of 81
Overall 63 – 61
  • AKAM ranked among 39 companies in Cloud Computing
  • FFIV ranked among 137 companies in Infrastructure Software
  • ERIC ranked among 122 companies in Computer Hardware

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodAKAMFFIVERICSPY
1 month -12.6%+3.7%+16.3% -0.2%
3 months -10.9%+13.9%+11.1% +3.9%
6 months +4.4%+51.2%-1.9% +8.2%
Year to date +14.1%+80.0%+14.8% +12.9%
1 year +31.9%+58.2%+17.5% +12.3%
3 years -2.4%+206.7%+154.1% +87.4%
3 years, per year -0.8%+45.3%+36.5% +23.3%
5 years -4.9%+115.1%+0.4% +67.9%
5 years, per year -1.0%+16.6%+0.1% +10.9%
10 years +44.7%+250.7%+124.3% +261.1%
10 years, per year +3.8%+13.4%+8.4% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureAKAMFFIVERICSPY
Volatility, 1Y 61.4%35.0%36.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 58.4%34.4%36.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.411.081.03 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.521.660.48 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -46.8%-47.4%-65.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -38.2%-4.3%-19.4% -1.2%
52-week high $161.14$479.83$13.74 $779.14
52-week low $71.97$223.99$9.15 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleAKAMFFIVERIC
P/E now vs peer median 35.1xmedian 29.5x 36.1xmedian 38.6x 18.1xmedian 33.2x
P/S now vs peer median 3.3xmedian 4.5x 7.5xmedian 4.4x 1.5xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 10.6xmedian 23.9x —median 34.5x 9.3xmedian 20.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 15.0xmedian 15.0x 25.7xmedian 29.4x 9.9xmedian 29.8x
P/B now vs peer median 3.0xmedian 4.3x 6.5xmedian 3.3x 3.4xmedian 3.0x
PEG now vs peer median -7.03median 0.38 1.49median 1.28 0.42median 1.17

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsAKAMFFIVERIC
Revenue $4.32B – $24.56B
Gross profit $2.48B $2.80B $11.51B
Operating income $455.68M $818.22M $2.90B
Net income $410.97M $722.15M $2.04B
Free cash flow $956.10M – $3.76B
R&D $554.57M $621.42M $5.22B
EPS (diluted) $2.67 $12.55 $0.61
Cash & equivalents $1.48B $1.59B $5.11B
Total debt $1.71B – $3.73B
Shares (diluted) 153.69M 57.55M 3.34B
Enterprise value $7.61B $21.04B $14.39B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricAKAMFFIVERIC
P/E 35.1x 36.1x 18.1x
P/FCF 15.0x 25.7x 9.9x
P/Operating cash flow 9.9x 27.2x 10.8x
P/S 3.3x 7.5x 1.5x
P/B 3.0x 6.5x 3.4x
P/Tangible book 3.4x 6.5x 3.4x
EV/EBITDA 10.6x – 9.3x
EV/EBIT 27.8x – 12.2x
EV/Revenue 2.9x – 1.4x
EV/FCF 13.2x – 9.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 8.7x 27.2x 10.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -7.03 1.49 0.42

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAKAMFFIVERIC
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.9% – -38.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.7% – -2.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 2.9% 11.3% 3.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 3.8% 8.0% 4.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) -13.2% 6.8% -18.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -9.0% 20.1% 55.0%
Net income growth (1Y) -3.2% 4.3% -18.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -4.9% 22.3% 43.4%
EPS growth (1Y) -8.5% 6.4% -17.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -5.0% 24.2% 43.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 0.0% 1.0% 4.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 3.4% 13.7% 44.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 16.6% – 6.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 0.5% – 34.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAKAMFFIVERIC
Gross margin 57.5% – 46.8%
EBITDA margin 27.6% – 15.4%
Operating margin 10.5% – 11.8%
Pretax margin 11.5% – 11.2%
Net margin 9.5% – 8.3%
FCF margin 22.1% – 15.3%
Operating cash flow margin 33.5% – 14.0%
Return on equity 8.5% – 18.7%
Return on assets 3.1% – 6.8%
Return on invested capital – – 20.0%
Return on capital employed 4.3% – 17.8%
Asset turnover 0.3x – 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 3.5x 1.3x 1.7x
Stock comp / revenue 11.8% – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAKAMFFIVERIC
Debt / assets 11.3% – 12.4%
Debt / equity 0.4x – 0.3x
Net debt / EBITDA -1.4x – -0.6x
Debt / FCF 1.8x – 1.0x
Liabilities / assets 68.5% – 63.1%
Equity / assets 31.5% 56.7% 36.9%
Interest coverage 13.7x – –
Current ratio 1.6x 1.7x 1.2x
Quick ratio 1.5x – 0.8x
Cash ratio 1.2x – 0.4x
Altman Z-score 1.70 – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAKAMFFIVERIC
Dividend yield – – 2.8%
Net buyback yield -0.8% – -2.2%
Shareholder yield -0.8% – 0.6%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 50.9%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 27.7%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – -13.4%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – -7.7%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusAKAMFFIVERIC
Forward P/E 15.8xFY2026 28.3xFY2026 17.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $6.31FY2026 $16.24FY2026 $0.65FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -11.4%FY2026 +2.7%FY2026 -30.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after -0.2% +5.0% -3.1%
Revenue, next fiscal year $4.28BFY2026 $3.52BFY2026 $24.16BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +1.8%FY2026 +13.8%FY2026 -8.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +27.3% +6.4% +1.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAKAMFFIVERIC
Held by institutions 100.0% 96.6% 9.5%
Institutions holding 801 831 388
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.5% -2.6% +0.4%
Institutions buying 430 483 219
Institutions selling 282 240 110
Buyers to sellers 1.52 2.01 1.99

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

AKAMFFIVERIC
AKAM 1.00 0.36 0.23
FFIV 0.36 1.00 0.23
ERIC 0.23 0.23 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AKAM, FFIV and ERIC?

Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) is the largest by market capitalisation: Akamai Technologies (AKAM) $14.20B, F5 (FFIV) $21.04B, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) $36.78B.

Which stock is cheaper, AKAM, FFIV and ERIC?

Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Akamai Technologies (AKAM) 34.5x, F5 (FFIV) 29.1x, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) 18.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Akamai Technologies (AKAM) is cheapest (Akamai Technologies (AKAM) 15.8x, F5 (FFIV) 28.3x, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) 17.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Akamai Technologies (AKAM) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Akamai Technologies (AKAM) +5.9%, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) -38.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Akamai Technologies (AKAM) has the highest net margin (Akamai Technologies (AKAM) 9.5%, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) 8.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year F5 (FFIV) returned the most: Akamai Technologies (AKAM) +31.9%, F5 (FFIV) +58.2%, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) +17.5%. Over five years, F5 (FFIV) compounded fastest (Akamai Technologies (AKAM) -1.0%/yr, F5 (FFIV) +16.6%/yr, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) +0.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, F5 (FFIV) has been the steadiest (Akamai Technologies (AKAM) 61.4%, F5 (FFIV) 35.0%, Ericsson Lm Telephone (ERIC) 36.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AKAM, FFIV and ERIC?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Akamai Technologies (AKAM) leads on 5. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.