Sifting through countless of stocks in the IT Services industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Akamai Technologies, Inc. or Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Akamai Technologies, Inc. and Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Akamai Technologies, Inc. and Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation

Akamai Technologies, Inc. engages in the provision of security, delivery, and cloud computing solutions in the United States and internationally. It offers security solutions that include web application and application programming interfaces (API) protection solutions, which protect web, API, and mobile app traffic from attacks; Bot & Abuse portfolio, which provides solutions to help customers protect against threats; full account lifecycle protections including the ability to defend against account takeover and opening abuse, adversarial bot protection, protection against credential stuffing, inventory scalping, and hoarding; and solutions designed to stop persistent scrapers from stealing content; API security, which discovers, audits, and monitors API; and microservice and application component protection that analyzes and protects application traffic that moves between application components. The company also offers cloud computing services, which include compute, storage, and cloud native and networking services; and Akamai App Platform, provides ready-to-run templates that address challenges in deploying, managing and scaling Kubernetes clusters at scale. In addition, it offers delivery solutions that include web and mobile performance solutions, which enables dynamic websites and applications, as well as global traffic management, site acceleration, application load balancing, large-scale load testing, and real-user monitoring; and media delivery solutions, including video streaming and video player services, game and software delivery, broadcast operations, authoritative domain name system, resolution, and data and analytics. The company has a strategic alliance with Deloitte Canada to help organizations achieve platform-based resilience against AI-accelerated cyberthreats. Akamai Technologies, Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation, a professional services company, provides consulting and technology, and outsourcing services in North America, Europe, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Financial Services; Health Sciences; Products and Resources; and Communications, Media and Technology. The company provides services including artificial intelligence (AI) and other technology services and solutions, consulting, application development, systems integration, quality engineering and assurance, engineering research and development, application maintenance, infrastructure, security, and business process services and automation. It also offers AI-led automation, which includes advisory, and process and IT automation solutions designed to simplify and accelerate automation adoption; business process outsourcing services, which help deliver business outcomes including revenue growth, increased customer and employee satisfaction, and cost savings; and Cognizant Moment, a digital experience service that uses AI to reimagine customer experiences and engineer strategies aimed at driving growth. In addition, the company develops, licenses, implements, and supports proprietary and third-party software products and platforms; and develops industry-specific products and services. It offers solution to healthcare providers and payers, life sciences companies, banking, capital markets, payments and insurance companies, manufacturers, automakers, retailers, consumer goods, travel and hospitality, communications, media and entertainment, education, information services, and technology companies, as well as businesses providing logistics, energy, and utility services. The company has a strategic partnership with Uniphore Technologies Inc. for the development of AI solutions that combine small language models and AI agents. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation was incorporated in 1988 and is headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey.

Latest IT Services and Akamai Technologies, Inc., Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation Stock News

As of September 4, 2026, Akamai Technologies, Inc. had a $15.1 billion market capitalization, compared to the IT Services median of $832.9 million. Akamai Technologies, Inc.’s stock is up 21% in 2026, down 2.8% in the previous five trading days and up 36.31% in the past year.

Currently, Akamai Technologies, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 38.2. Akamai Technologies, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $4.3 billion with a 9.5% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 5.4%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $6.699 per share for the current fiscal year. Akamai Technologies, Inc. does not currently pay a dividend.

As of September 4, 2026, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation had a $28.1 billion market cap, putting it in the 89th percentile of all stocks. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation’s stock is down 27.8% in 2026, down 7.2% in the previous five trading days and down 12.79% in the past year.

Currently, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation’s price-earnings ratio is 13.4. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation’s trailing 12-month revenue is $21.6 billion with a 10.3% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 4.5%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $5.737 per share for the current fiscal year. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation currently has a 2.1% dividend yield.

How We Compare Akamai Technologies, Inc. and Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Akamai Technologies, Inc. and Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Akamai Technologies, Inc. and Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
Akamai Technologies, Inc.	AKAM	D
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation	CTSH	A

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

Akamai Technologies, Inc. has a Value Score of 25, which is Expensive. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has a Value Score of 81, which is Deep Value.

The Value Stock Winner: Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation

As you can clearly see from the Value Grade breakdown above, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation is considered to have better value than Akamai Technologies, Inc.. For investors who focus solely on a company’s valuation, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Akamai Technologies, Inc. and Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
Akamai Technologies, Inc.	AKAM	C
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation	CTSH	A

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

Akamai Technologies, Inc. has a Quality Score of 45, which is Average. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has a Quality Score of 86, which is Very Strong.

The Quality Grade Winner: Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation

As you can clearly see from the Quality Grade breakdown above, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has a better overall quality grade than Akamai Technologies, Inc.. For investors who are looking for companies with higher quality than others in the same industry, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation could be a good stock to add to their portfolios. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Akamai Technologies, Inc. and Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation’s Momentum Grades

Company	Ticker	Momentum
Akamai Technologies, Inc.	AKAM	C
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation	CTSH	C

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

Akamai Technologies, Inc. has a Momentum Score of 48, which is Average. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has a Momentum Score of 43, which is Average.

The Momentum Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Akamai Technologies, Inc. or Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has a strong enough Momentum Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Akamai Technologies, Inc. or Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation is the better investment when it comes to momentum.

Other Akamai Technologies, Inc. and Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation Grades

In addition to Quality, Value and Momentum, A+ Investor also provides grades for Growth and Estimate Revisions.

Earnings estimate revisions scores take into account the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, surprises beget further surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Growth investing builds on the idea that stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth outperform those of slower-growth companies. AAII measures growth through consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Akamai Technologies, Inc. and Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Akamai Technologies, Inc. or Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation Stock?

Overall, Akamai Technologies, Inc. stock has a Value Score of 25, Momentum Score of 48 and Quality Score of 45.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation stock has a Value Score of 81, Momentum Score of 43 and Quality Score of 86.

Comparing Akamai Technologies, Inc. and Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.