Akamai Technologies vs Shopify
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KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put Akamai Technologies and Shopify side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- Shopify is the larger business, with $11.6B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $4.2B for Akamai Technologies, about 2.7 times as much.
- Shopify grew revenue faster (30.1%, against 5.4%).
- Akamai Technologies kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (13.5% operating margin, against 12.7%).
- Akamai Technologies turned more of its sales into free cash flow (24.0% FCF margin, against 17.4%).
- Shopify earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (16.3%, against 6.3%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Shopify’s earnings: a P/E of 113.6x against 35.6x for Akamai Technologies.
Who comes out ahead
Of the 11 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
Akamai Technologies
AKAM
5/11
Gross marginOperating marginNet marginFCF marginShare count change
Shopify
SHOP
5/11
Revenue growth5-year growthReturn on capitalReturn on equityNet debt / EBITDA
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | AKAM FY25 | SHOP FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $15.1B | $218.3B |
| Revenue | $4.2B | $11.6B |
| Free cash flow | $1.0B | $2.0B |
| Net income | $452M | $1.2B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 5.4% | 30.1% |
| 5-year growth | 5.6% | 31.6% |
| Share count change | −4.7% | 0.3% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 59.0% | 48.1% |
| Operating margin | 13.5% | 12.7% |
| Net margin | 10.7% | 10.7% |
| FCF margin | 24.0% | 17.4% |
| Return on capital | 6.3% | 16.3% |
| Return on equity | 9.2% | 9.8% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $2.9B | −$5.8B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.3x | −3.9x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $800M | $0.0M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 35.6x | 113.6x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 6 |
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.