Shares of Akamai Technologies, Inc. (AKAM), a cloud computing, security, and content delivery company, climbed 3% on Friday following the disclosure of a significantly expanded partnership with artificial intelligence developer Anthropic. The agreement carries a baseline commitment of $11.6 billion over seven years and could approach $20 billion in total value if additional terms are exercised.

Under the terms disclosed, the partnership is focused on delivering cloud computing capacity to power Anthropic's artificial intelligence systems. The arrangement includes provisions for expansion, with additional spending of up to $9 billion that would bring the potential total commitment close to $20 billion.

Following the announcement, Akamai shares traded at $113.94. The stock's 52-week trading range spans from $70.82 to $165.45.

Infrastructure Focused on CPU-Based AI Workloads

According to Akamai, the infrastructure being provided under the agreement will primarily handle Anthropic's CPU-based computational requirements, a detail that highlights an evolving trend in artificial intelligence computing architecture. While GPU chips have dominated AI model training activities, the deployment phase—referred to as inference—is showing increasing reliance on CPU-based processing power.

For context, Akamai had previously reported $2.8 billion in long-term cloud customer commitments during its second-quarter earnings announcement last August, making the new agreement's baseline roughly four times that figure—a marked step up in scale.

Akamai's CEO Tom Leighton highlighted the partnership, noting that the company's worldwide presence and enterprise expertise make it well-suited to handle demanding AI infrastructure requirements securely.

Warrants Give Anthropic a Potential Equity Stake

The partnership also includes a financial component that provides Anthropic with an equity pathway. The AI company received warrants enabling it to acquire convertible preferred shares representing approximately 5% of Akamai's total outstanding equity. The warrants carry an exercise price of $111.33 per share, and 2% of the warrant position became immediately exercisable upon announcement. The exercise price sits slightly below the $113.94 level at which shares traded following the announcement.

The remaining warrant portions vest incrementally based on expanded spending commitments. For every additional $3 billion Anthropic commits to the partnership, another 1% of the warrant becomes exercisable—a structure that ties the deal's ultimate size, and Anthropic's potential stake, to whether those additional tiers are triggered.

Analysts Raise Price Targets

Analyst reactions came swiftly following the disclosure. According to a report from Investing.com, RBC Capital maintained its Sector Perform stance while establishing a $135 price objective. The firm increased both revenue projections and capital spending estimates for Akamai, characterizing the agreement as confirmation of the company's competitive positioning in AI infrastructure markets.

Several other analysts adopted optimistic stances. Piper Sandler lifted its target to $158, BofA Securities increased its target to $185, and Guggenheim established a $225 objective, while UBS raised its price objective to $148. Piper Sandler and Guggenheim continue to rate the stock a Buy, and Evercore ISI maintained its $175 target alongside an Outperform rating.

Analysts project the partnership will contribute approximately $1.66 billion in annual recurring revenue to Akamai's financial results—roughly in line with the baseline commitment spread across the seven-year term—representing a substantial boost to the company's cloud and infrastructure business lines.

Over the trailing twelve months, Akamai stock has delivered a 46% return, based on InvestingPro figures. The shares currently command a price-to-earnings multiple of 41.1.

This article was first published by Blockonomi.