What the changes say
- AI risk now includes Akamai’s AIC edge-inference platform and competition in AI infrastructure.
- Remote work adds home-security, cybersecurity, data-loss and workforce-culture risks.
- Regulatory risk now explicitly includes digital and cloud sovereignty, while tariffs and U.S. policy changes broaden macroeconomic risks.
- Cost pressures, price increases and third-party cyber threats receive greater emphasis.
What changed since the prior 10-K
Dropped
- DroppedFinancial and Operational Risks
Trying to innovate through acquisition can be costly and with uncertain prospects for success; we may find that attractive acquisition targets are too expensive for us to pursue which could cause us to pursue more time-consuming internal development
- DroppedFinancial and Operational Risks
Ultimately, any type of increased competition could result in price and revenue reductions, loss of customers and loss of market share or inability to penetrate new markets, each of which could materially impact our business, profitability, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows
Reworded
- 71% rewrittenFinancial and Operational Risks
Slowing, flat or limited revenue growth has in the past and may continue to negatively impact our profitability and stock price
Replaces detailed traffic, video, gaming and DIY drivers with a broader risk that revenue may not grow or prices increase.
Was: Slowing revenue growth has in the past and may continue to negatively impact our profitability and stock price
- 70% rewrittenInvestment-Related Risks
If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud. As a result, our stockholders could lose confidence in our financial reporting, which could harm our business and the trading price of our common stock
Removes the previously remediated income-tax weakness and adds costs, complexity and resources required as the business expands, uses channel partners and completes acquisitions.
- 69% rewrittenLegal and Regulatory Risks
Other regulatory developments could negatively impact our business
Adds developing digital and cloud sovereignty concerns to the listed internet regulations affecting revenue, intellectual property and customers.
- 66% rewrittenFinancial and Operational Risks
Global conditions have in the past and may in the future harm our industry, business and results of operations
Adds terrorism, public-health crises, U.S. policy and regulatory changes, expected tariffs and export-control changes to global-condition risks.
- 66% rewrittenFinancial and Operational Risks
We may not be successful in our artificial intelligence initiatives, which could adversely affect our business, reputation, or financial results
Adds AIC, Akamai’s edge-inference platform, and direct competition with established and emerging AI infrastructure and inference providers.
- 57% rewrittenFinancial and Operational Risks
Our failure to manage new risks as our business evolves and our work practices change could harm us
Shifts from management depth and succession risks to remote-work security vulnerabilities, cybersecurity, data or financial loss, hybrid-work execution and workforce morale.
Was: Our failure to maintain our company culture and manage new risks as our business evolves and our work practices change could harm us
- 46% rewrittenFinancial and Operational Risks
Failure to control expenses could reduce our profitability, which would negatively impact our stock price
Adds potentially unmitigable cost increases, customer resistance to price increases and resulting revenue loss; specifies cloud computing network investment.
- 46% rewrittenFinancial and Operational Risks
Cybersecurity breaches and attacks on us, our contractors or our third-party vendors, as well as steps we need to take in an effort to prevent them, can lead to significant costs and disruptions that would harm our business, financial results and reputation
Broadens cyber threats to include third parties, fraud, harder-to-detect activity and AI-enhanced attacks, while retaining system intrusion, disruption and ransomware risks.
- 45% rewrittenFinancial and Operational Risks
If we do not develop or acquire new solutions that are attractive to our customers, our revenue and operating results could be adversely affected
- 44% rewrittenFinancial and Operational Risks
If we are unable to compete effectively and adapt to changing market conditions, our business will be adversely affected
- 42% rewrittenFinancial and Operational Risks
Our business strategy depends on the ability to source adequate transmission capacity, co-location facilities and the equipment we need to operate our network; failure to have access to those resources could lead to loss of revenue and service disruptions
- 41% rewrittenFinancial and Operational Risks
We face risks associated with global operations that could harm our business
- 38% rewrittenInvestment-Related Risks
Any failure to meet our debt obligations or obtain financing would damage our business
- 34% rewrittenFinancial and Operational Risks
Our restructuring and reorganization activities may be disruptive to our operations and harm our business
- 30% rewrittenFinancial and Operational Risks
Our sales to government clients subject us to risks, including early termination, audits, investigations, sanctions and penalties
- 29% rewrittenInvestment-Related Risks
Provisions of our charter, by-laws and Delaware law may have anti-takeover effects that could prevent a change in control even if the change in control would be beneficial to our stockholders
- 21% rewrittenFinancial and Operational Risks
We utilize third-party technology in our business, and failures or vulnerabilities, and/or litigation, related to these technologies may adversely affect our business
All 32 risk factors
Headings as the filing states them, in filing order.
Financial and Operational Risks
- 01Slowing, flat or limited revenue growth has in the past and may continue to negatively impact our profitability and stock price71% rewritten
- 02Global conditions have in the past and may in the future harm our industry, business and results of operations66% rewritten
- 03Failure to control expenses could reduce our profitability, which would negatively impact our stock price46% rewritten
- 04If we do not develop or acquire new solutions that are attractive to our customers, our revenue and operating results could be adversely affected45% rewritten
- 05If we are unable to compete effectively and adapt to changing market conditions, our business will be adversely affected44% rewritten
- 06Defects or disruptions in our products and IT systems could require us to increase spending on upgrading systems, diminish demand for our solutions or subject us to substantial liability
- 07Cybersecurity breaches and attacks on us, our contractors or our third-party vendors, as well as steps we need to take in an effort to prevent them, can lead to significant costs and disruptions that would harm our business, financial results and reputation46% rewritten
- 08If we cannot maintain compatibility with our customers’ IT infrastructure, including their chosen third-party services, our business will be harmed
- 09We face risks associated with global operations that could harm our business41% rewritten
- 10Our business strategy depends on the ability to source adequate transmission capacity, co-location facilities and the equipment we need to operate our network; failure to have access to those resources could lead to loss of revenue and service disruptions42% rewritten
- 11Acquisitions and other strategic transactions could result in operating difficulties, dilution, diversion of management attention and other harmful consequences that may adversely impact our business and results of operations
- 12If current and potential large customers shift to DIY internal solutions for content and application delivery or security protection, our business will be negatively impacted
- 13If we are unable to recruit and retain key employees and qualified sales, research and development, technical, marketing and support personnel, our ability to compete could be harmed
- 14Our failure to manage new risks as our business evolves and our work practices change could harm us57% rewritten
- 15Our restructuring and reorganization activities may be disruptive to our operations and harm our business34% rewritten
- 16We may have exposure to greater-than-anticipated tax liabilities
- 17Fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates affect our reported operating results in U.S. dollar terms
- 18Our sales to government clients subject us to risks, including early termination, audits, investigations, sanctions and penalties30% rewritten
- 19We utilize third-party technology in our business, and failures or vulnerabilities, and/or litigation, related to these technologies may adversely affect our business21% rewritten
- 20We rely on certain “open-source” software, which may contain security flaws or other deficiencies, and the use of which could result in our having to distribute our proprietary software, including source code, to third parties on unfavorable terms, either of which could materially affect our business
- 21We may not be successful in our artificial intelligence initiatives, which could adversely affect our business, reputation, or financial results66% rewritten
Legal and Regulatory Risks
- 22Evolving privacy regulations could negatively impact our profitability and business operations
- 23Other regulatory developments could negatively impact our business69% rewritten
- 24We may need to defend against patent or copyright infringement claims, which would cause us to incur substantial costs or limit our ability to use certain technologies in the future
- 25Our business will be adversely affected if we are unable to protect our intellectual property rights from unauthorized use or infringement by third parties
- 26Litigation may adversely impact our business
- 27Global climate change, other disruptions and related natural resource conservation regulations could adversely impact our business
Investment-Related Risks
- 28Our stock price has been, and may continue to be, volatile, and your investment could lose value
- 29Any failure to meet our debt obligations or obtain financing would damage our business38% rewritten
- 30Because we currently do not intend to pay dividends, stockholders will benefit from an investment in our common stock only if it appreciates in value
- 31Provisions of our charter, by-laws and Delaware law may have anti-takeover effects that could prevent a change in control even if the change in control would be beneficial to our stockholders29% rewritten
- 32If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud. As a result, our stockholders could lose confidence in our financial reporting, which could harm our business and the trading price of our common stock70% rewritten
Other Akamai Technologies 10-Ks
- FY2024 10-K risk factors37 risks
Akamai’s risks center on protecting and reliably delivering security, content delivery and compute services across complex global networks.
Filed Feb 24, 2025
About this page
The headings are the filing's own. The one-line readings and the overview are automated and can be wrong: read Item 1A of the 10-K for the exact wording.