Akamai Emerges From Busy Quiet Period

Internet content service provider Akamai Technologies (Nasdaq: AKAM), fresh off of one of the most successful initial public offerings in U.S. stock market history, announced yesterday that it has signed more than 100 customers since the introduction of its high-speed service in April.

Emerging from the SEC-imposed quiet period that precedes and follows an IPO, Akamai trumpeted its achievements over the last two months by announcing the signing of Monster.com, Martha Stewart Living, CBS, Britannica.com, Ticketmaster Online/City Search and a host of other companies.

High Quality Customers

Akamai Marketing Manager Jeff Young told the E-Commerce Times that the company signed over half of its customers during the quiet period. The new Akamai customers join Yahoo!, CNN, the GO Network, About.com, Bluefly.com and dozens of others who have opted for Akamai's content and application delivery services.

"We are working very hard to improve the ease, reliability and functionality that content providers need to deliver their business over the Internet," Akamai CEO George Conrades said in a statement. "We are thrilled to see such a high vote of confidence in our service through the addition of such high-quality customers."

More Partnerships

The company also announced that it has signed 25 partnerships with a variety of Web developers and applications vendors. These partners will assist the company in developing and maintaining its FreeFlow streaming service and delivering content through its 1,475 servers in 24 countries around the globe.

Akamai went public on October 26th, selling its shares for $26 (US$). On opening day, shares closed 458 percent higher, giving the company a market value of $15 billion. Akamai's share price had climbed to $191 by mid-day trading Tuesday, with a valuation at over $16 billion.

That figure is more than that of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Computers, which has been around a good deal longer and has delivered revenues a great deal higher than the $1.29 million that Akamai booked for the nine months ending September 30th.

The company, however, seems to be in the right place at the right time. Like its content delivery competitors, Juniper Networks and Sycamore Networks, Akamai is providing what investors see as integral to the Internet's growth and stability.