Akamai Technologies vs Verisign
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KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put Akamai Technologies and Verisign side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- Akamai Technologies is the larger business, with $4.2B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $1.7B for Verisign, about 2.5 times as much.
- Verisign grew revenue faster (6.4%, against 5.4%).
- Verisign kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (67.7% operating margin, against 13.5%).
- Verisign turned more of its sales into free cash flow (64.5% FCF margin, against 24.0%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Akamai Technologies’s earnings: a P/E of 35.6x against 32.3x for Verisign.
Who comes out ahead
Of the 9 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
Akamai Technologies
AKAM
2/9
5-year growthShare count change
Verisign
VRSN
7/9
Revenue growthGross marginOperating marginNet marginFCF marginPiotroski F-scoreNet debt / EBITDA
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | AKAM FY25 | VRSN FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $15.1B | $27.1B |
| Revenue | $4.2B | $1.7B |
| Free cash flow | $1.0B | $1.1B |
| Net income | $452M | $826M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 5.4% | 6.4% |
| 5-year growth | 5.6% | 5.5% |
| Share count change | −4.7% | −4.5% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 59.0% | 88.2% |
| Operating margin | 13.5% | 67.7% |
| Net margin | 10.7% | 49.8% |
| FCF margin | 24.0% | 64.5% |
| Return on capital | 6.3% | — |
| Return on equity | 9.2% | — |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $2.9B | $1.2B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.3x | 1.1x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $800M | $1.1B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 35.6x | 32.3x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 8 |
Ten years
Revenue
Operating margin
Free cash flow
Return on capital
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.