This Tech Stock May Be About to Short Circuit Near 52-Week Highs

• Akamai Technologies (AKAM) is up more than 40% over the past 52 weeks.
• Shares are trading at a new 52-week high hit on March 26.
• The stock maintains a 100% “Buy” technical opinion from Barchart.
• Despite broad retail popularity, elevated short interest introduces caution amid mixed analyst ratings.

Today’s Featured Stock

Valued at $15.98 billion, Akamai Technologies (AKAM) is a global provider of content delivery network and cloud infrastructure services. 

The company’s solutions accelerate and improve the delivery of content over the internet, enabling faster response to requests for web pages, streaming of video and audio, and business applications. Its offerings are intended to reduce the impact of traffic congestion, bandwidth constraints, and capacity limitations on customers. 

What I’m Watching

I found today’s Chart of the Day by using Barchart’s powerful screening functions to sort for stocks with the highest technical buy signals; superior current momentum in both strength and direction; and a Trend Seeker “buy” signal. I then used Barchart’s Flipcharts feature to review the charts for consistent price appreciation. AKAM checks those boxes. Since the Trend Seeker issued a new “buy” on March 10, AKAM stock is up 10.77%.

Barchart Technical Indicators for Akamai Technologies

Editor’s Note: The technical indicators below are updated live during the session every 20 minutes and can therefore change each day as the market fluctuates. The indicator numbers shown below therefore may not match what you see live on the Barchart.com website when you read this report. These technical indicators form the Barchart Opinion on a particular stock.

Akamai scored a 2-year high of $121.12 on March 26.

• Akamai has a Weighted Alpha of +66.96.
• AKAM has a 100% “Buy” opinion from Barchart.
• The stock has gained 43.61% over the past 52 weeks.
• Akamai has its Trend Seeker “Buy” signal intact.
• The stock recently traded at $115.75 with a 50-day moving average of $103.26.
• AKAM has made 12 new highs and gained 17.64% over the past month.
• Relative Strength Index (RSI) is at 61.31.
• There’s a technical support level around $111.11.

Don’t Forget the Fundamentals

• $15.98 billion market capitalization.
• 24.88x price-earnings ratio.
• Revenue is expected to grow 6.31% this year and another 6.95% next year.
• Earnings are estimated to decrease by 3.44% this year but increase again by 10.52% next year.

Analyst and Investor Sentiment on Akamai Technologies

• The Wall Street analysts followed by Barchart gave the stock 10 “Strong Buy,” 1 “Moderate Buy,” 9 “Hold,” and 2 “Strong Sell” opinions with price targets between $72 and $134.
• Value Line gives the stock its “Highest” rating with price targets from $80 to $176.
• CFRA’s MarketScope rates the stock a “Hold” with a price target of $121.
• Morningstar thinks the stock is fairly valued.
• 6,941 investors following the stock on Motley Fool think it will beat the market while 761 think it won’t.
• 35,560 investors are following the stock on Seeking Alpha which rates it a “Hold.”
• Short interest is 10.15% of the float with 4.06 days to cover the float.

The Bottom Line on Akamai Technologies

This stock is widely popular with retail investors but the short interest worries me. 

Additional disclosure: The Barchart Chart of the Day highlights stocks that are experiencing exceptional current price appreciation. They are not intended to be buy recommendations as these stocks are extremely volatile and speculative. Should you decide to add one of these stocks to your investment portfolio it is highly suggested you follow a predetermined diversification and moving stop loss discipline that is consistent with your personal investment risk tolerance.