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Richard Sloan from the University of Michigan was first to document what is referred to as the "accrual anomaly". His 1996 paper found that shares of companies with small or negative accruals vastly outperform (+10%) those of companies with large ones.
Akamai Technologies's Sloan Ratio for the quarter that ended in Mar. 2026 was 5.09%.
As of Mar. 2026, Akamai Technologies has a Sloan Ratio of 5.09%, indicating the company is in the safe zone and there is no funny business with accruals.
Akamai Technologies (NAS:AKAM) Sloan Ratio % Explanation
A former University of Michigan researcher, Richard Sloan's 1996 paper found that shares of companies with small or negative accruals vastly outperform (+10%) those of companies with large ones. In fact, for the 40-year period between 1962 and 2001, buying the lowest accrual companies and shorting the highest accrual companies resulted in an average annual compounded return of 18%, more than double the S&P 500's 7.4% annual return over the same period.
If the Sloan Ratio is between -10% and 10%, the company is in the safe zone and there is no funny business with accruals.
If the Sloan Ratio is less than between -25% and -10% on the negative side, and between 10% and 25% on the positive side, this is a warning stage of accrual build up.
If the Sloan Ratio is less than -25% or greater than 25%, and this ratio is consistent over several quarters or even years, be careful. Earnings are highly likely to be made up of accruals.
As of Mar. 2026, Akamai Technologies has a Sloan Ratio of 5.09%, indicating the company is in the safe zone and there is no funny business with accruals.
Akamai Technologies Sloan Ratio % Related Terms
Akamai Technologies Sloan Ratio % Historical Data
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The historical data trend for Akamai Technologies's Sloan Ratio % can be seen below:
* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD. * For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.
For the Software - Infrastructure subindustry, Akamai Technologies's Sloan Ratio %, along with its competitors' market caps and Sloan Ratio % data, can be viewed below:
* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.
Akamai Technologies Sloan Ratio % vs Software Industry
For the Software industry and Technology sector, Akamai Technologies's Sloan Ratio % distribution charts can be found below:
* The bar in red indicates where Akamai Technologies's Sloan Ratio % falls into.
Earnings contain a lot of non cash earnings which is called accruals. The Sloan ratio is a way to identify firms with low non-cash or accrual-derived earnings relative to their cash flow.
Akamai Technologies's Sloan Ratio for the fiscal year that ended in Dec. 2025 is calculated as
Akamai Technologies's Net Income for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Mar. 2026 was 103.618 (Jun. 2025 ) + 140.17 (Sep. 2025 ) + 85.072 (Dec. 2025 ) + 106.319 (Mar. 2026 ) = $435 Mil.
Akamai Technologies's Cash Flow from Operations for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Mar. 2026 was 459.149 (Jun. 2025 ) + 441.832 (Sep. 2025 ) + 366.584 (Dec. 2025 ) + 312.508 (Mar. 2026 ) = $1,580 Mil.
Akamai Technologies's Cash Flow from Investing for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Mar. 2026 was -682.866 (Jun. 2025 ) + -368.331 (Sep. 2025 ) + -366.392 (Dec. 2025 ) + -319.494 (Mar. 2026 ) = $-1,737 Mil.
* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD. * For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.
Akamai Technologies (AKAM) has a Sloan Ratio % of 5.09% as of Mar. 2026. Sloan ratio measures earnings quality based on the amount of accruals. View historical data on Akamai Technologies and its competitors.
Is Akamai Technologies' Sloan Ratio % too high?
Akamai Technologies' current Sloan Ratio % is 5.09%. Overall, Akamai Technologies has a GF Score™ of 79/100 and is considered Fairly Valued, reflecting its overall financial health beyond just this single metric.
How does Akamai Technologies' Sloan Ratio % compare to TOST and GEN?
Akamai Technologies' Sloan Ratio % of 5.09% can be compared against companies in the Software industry. See the competitive comparison table and distribution chart on this page for a detailed peer-by-peer breakdown.
What is a good Sloan Ratio % for a Software company?
A good Sloan Ratio % depends on the Software industry context. However, Sloan Ratio % should not be evaluated in isolation — investors should consider it alongside profitability, growth, and financial strength metrics. Use the industry distribution chart on this page to see where any company falls relative to its peers.
What does a high Sloan Ratio % mean?
A high Sloan Ratio % can signal that a stock is expensive relative to its fundamentals. Sloan ratio measures earnings quality based on the amount of accruals. View historical data on Akamai Technologies and its competitors. Akamai Technologies's current Sloan Ratio % is 5.09%. However, context matters — high-growth companies often justify higher valuations. Always evaluate alongside other metrics like GF Score™ and GF Value™.
Is Akamai Technologies stock overvalued right now?
Based on GuruFocus' analysis, Akamai Technologies (AKAM) is currently considered Fairly Valued. The stock's GF Value™ is $112.52, compared to a current price of $110.54 — trading 1.8% below its estimated fair value. The current Sloan Ratio % is 5.09%. Akamai Technologies' overall GF Score™ is 79/100 with 5 warning signs to review. Investors should evaluate multiple metrics — including profitability, growth, and financial strength — before making a decision.
How is Sloan Ratio % calculated?
Sloan Ratio % is calculated from a company's financial statements. For Akamai Technologies (AKAM), the current Sloan Ratio % is 5.09% as of Mar. 2026. GuruFocus calculates this using data sourced from SEC filings and annual reports. See the calculation section and 30-year financial data on this page for the full breakdown.
Is Akamai Technologies (AKAM) Overvalued in 2026?
Based on GuruFocus' analysis, Akamai Technologies stock appears to be undervalued.
The current stock price of $110.54 is trading 1.8% below its estimated GF Value™ of $112.52.
GuruFocus considers Akamai Technologies to be Fairly Valued.
Key valuation signals for AKAM:
Sloan Ratio %: 5.09%
GF Value™: $112.52 vs. price of $110.54 (1.8% below fair value)
No single metric tells the full story. See the AKAM stock analysis page for a complete view including 30-year financials, guru trades, and insider activity.
Akamai operates a content delivery network, in which customers store content on distributed servers to deliver it to their own customers more quickly. Akamai has over 350,000 servers distributed over 4,350 points of presence in more than 700 cities globally. This network supports upward of 20% of global internet traffic, generating massive amounts of data. Using data generated by the delivery network, the firm offers cybersecurity products and cloud computing services, ranging from API security to zero-trust enterprise access, which has surpassed the delivery network in revenue and importance. As of 2026, the primary focus has shifted to offering computing hardware as a service, with an emphasis on serving large language model providers such as Anthropic.
79GF Score
Get the complete analysis for AKAM
Sloan Ratio % is just one metric. See GF Value™, 30-year financials, guru trades, warning signs, and more.
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