The end of an earnings season can be a great time to discover new stocks and assess how companies are handling the current business environment. Let’s take a look at how F5 (NASDAQ: FFIV) and the rest of the content delivery stocks fared in Q2.

The amount of content on the internet is exploding, whether it is music, movies and or e-commerce stores. Consumer demand for this content creates network congestion, much like a digital traffic jam which drives demand for specialized content delivery networks (CDN) services that alleviate potential network bottlenecks.

The 4 content delivery stocks we track reported a very strong Q2. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 2.7% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was in line.

Thankfully, share prices of the companies have been resilient as they are up 5.3% on average since the latest earnings results.

F5 (NASDAQ: FFIV)

Originally named after the F5 tornado, the most powerful on the meteorological scale, F5 (NASDAQ: FFIV) provides security and delivery solutions that protect applications across cloud, data center, and edge environments for large organizations.

F5 reported revenues of $780.4 million, up 12.2% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 3.6%. Overall, it was a very strong quarter for the company with a solid beat of analysts’ billings estimates and full-year revenue guidance exceeding analysts’ expectations.

“We delivered third quarter revenue of $780 million, representing 12% growth year over year, driven by 26% product revenue growth, which included 39% growth in systems revenue and 16% growth in software revenue,” said François Locoh-Donou, F5’s President and CEO.

F5 scored the biggest analyst estimates beat and highest full-year guidance raise of the whole group. Unsurprisingly, the stock is up 2.2% since reporting and currently trades at $306.

Is now the time to buy F5? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Best Q2: Cloudflare (NYSE: NET)

With a massive network spanning more than 310 cities in over 120 countries, Cloudflare (NYSE: NET) provides a global network that delivers security, performance and reliability services to protect websites, applications, and corporate networks.

Cloudflare reported revenues of $512.3 million, up 27.8% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 2.3%. The business had a very strong quarter with a solid beat of analysts’ billings estimates and EPS guidance for next quarter exceeding analysts’ expectations.

Cloudflare pulled off the fastest revenue growth among its peers. However, the results were likely priced into the stock as it’s traded sideways since reporting. Shares currently sit at $208.50.

Is now the time to buy Cloudflare? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ: AKAM)

With a massive distributed network spanning 4,100+ points of presence in nearly 130 countries, Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ: AKAM) provides a global distributed cloud platform that helps businesses deliver, secure, and optimize their digital experiences online.

Akamai Technologies reported revenues of $1.04 billion, up 6.5% year on year, exceeding analysts’ expectations by 2.2%. It may have had the worst quarter among its peers, but its results were still good as it also locked in EPS guidance for next quarter exceeding analysts’ expectations and full-year EPS guidance exceeding analysts’ expectations.

Akamai Technologies delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates and slowest revenue growth in the group. Interestingly, the stock is up 3.6% since the results and currently trades at $77.58.

Read our full analysis of Akamai Technologies’s results here.

Fastly (NYSE: FSLY)

Taking its name from the core advantage it delivers to customers, Fastly (NYSE: FSLY) operates an edge cloud platform that processes, secures, and delivers web content as close to end users as possible, enabling faster digital experiences.

Fastly reported revenues of $148.7 million, up 12.3% year on year. This print topped analysts’ expectations by 2.7%. It was a very strong quarter as it also recorded EPS guidance for next quarter exceeding analysts’ expectations and a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

The stock is up 15.2% since reporting and currently trades at $7.50.

Read our full, actionable report on Fastly here, it’s free.

Market Update

Thanks to the Fed’s series of rate hikes in 2022 and 2023, inflation has cooled significantly from its post-pandemic highs, drawing closer to the 2% goal. This disinflation has occurred without severely impacting economic growth, suggesting the success of a soft landing. The stock market thrived in 2024, spurred by recent rate cuts (0.5% in September and 0.25% in November), and a notable surge followed Donald Trump’s presidential election win in November, propelling indices to historic highs. Nonetheless, the outlook for 2025 remains clouded by potential trade policy changes and corporate tax discussions, which could impact business confidence and growth. The path forward holds both optimism and caution as new policies take shape.

Want to invest in winners with rock-solid fundamentals? Check out our Top 5 Growth Stocks and add them to your watchlist. These companies are poised for growth regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate.

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