Akamai Technologies to Acquire API Security Company Neosec – Dark Reading

Neosec’s API security solution will complement Akamai’s market leading application and API security portfolio by dramatically extending Akamai’s visibility into the rapidly growing API threat landscape. The combination is designed to make it easy for customers to secure their API’s by helping them discover all of their APIs, assess their risk, and respond to vulnerabilities and attacks.

“With rapidly accelerating digital transformation, APIs are the new frontier for digital business and the enablement of critical business functions,” said Mani Sundaram, executive vice president and general manager, Security Technology Group, Akamai Technologies. “Enterprises expose full business logic and process data via APIs, which, in a cloud-based economy, are vulnerable to cyberattacks. Neosec’s platform and Akamai’s application security portfolio will allow customers to gain visibility into all APIs, analyze their behavior and protect against API attacks.”

The combined API solutions are expected to put Akamai at the forefront of a critical emerging category of API security for which customers are actively seeking support. The rapidly growing global market for API security solutions is driven by the proliferation of APIs and the associated increase in cybersecurity threats. API-based architectures and microservices are the core of every application developed today, from B2B to web and mobile applications, and therefore are a primary target for attackers. Additionally, regulatory compliance laws such as FFIEC, SOC, GDPR, HIPAA and PCI DSS require enterprises to strengthen their security measures on APIs.

“What sets Neosec apart from other API security providers is the complete visibility into all API activity and the use of behavioral analytics that detect threats others miss,” said Giora Engel, co-founder and chief executive officer, Neosec. “Unlike other solutions, Neosec delivers rich, XDR-like API visibility combined with detection and response capabilities that enable full investigation and threat hunting. Ultimately, Akamai customers will have a better view into all of their API activity, to identify vulnerabilities and threats before they are exposed, and detect attacks in runtime.”

Neosec, headquartered in Palo Alto, California and Tel Aviv, Israel, is a privately funded company. Neosec’s employees, including co-founder and CEO, Giora Engel, and co-founder and chief technology officer, Ziv Sivan, are expected to join Akamai’s Security Technology business.

The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2023. For the fiscal year 2023, the acquisition is anticipated to be slightly dilutive to non-GAAP EPS by approximately $0.04 to $0.06 and is not expected to add any material revenue. On its next quarterly earnings call currently scheduled for May 9, 2023, Akamai plans to provide first quarter financial results and full year 2023 financial guidance including any expected impact from Neosec.

For more information, visit the Akamai application and API security page.

About Akamai

Akamai powers and protects life online. Leading companies worldwide choose Akamai to build, deliver, and secure their digital experiences — helping billions of people live, work, and play every day. Akamai Connected Cloud, a massively distributed edge and cloud platform, puts apps and experiences closer to users and keeps threats farther away. Learn more about Akamai’s security, compute, and delivery solutions at akamai.com and akamai.com/blog, or follow Akamai Technologies on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Akamai Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act

This release contains statements that are not statements of historical fact and constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, statements about expectations, plans and prospects of Akamai. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors including, but not limited to, the failure of our investments in innovation to generate solutions that are accepted in the market; effects of competition, including pricing pressure and changing business models; impact of macroeconomic trends, including economic uncertainty; conditions and uncertainties in the geopolitical environment; continuing supply chain and logistics costs, constraints, changes or disruptions; defects or disruptions in our products or IT systems, including cyberattacks, data breaches or malware; failure to realize the expected benefits of any of our acquisitions or reorganizations; changes to economic, political and regulatory conditions in the United States and internationally; delay in developing or failure to develop new service offerings or functionalities, and if developed, lack of market acceptance of such service offerings and functionalities or failure of such solutions to operate as expected, and other factors that are discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and other documents periodically filed with the SEC. In addition, the statements in this press release and on our quarterly earnings conference call represent Akamai’s expectations and beliefs as of the date of this press release. Akamai anticipates that subsequent events and developments may cause these expectations and beliefs to change. However, while Akamai may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, it specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Akamai’s expectations or beliefs as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In addition to providing financial measurements based on generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (GAAP), Akamai provides additional financial metrics that are not prepared in accordance with GAAP (non-GAAP financial measures). Management uses non-GAAP financial measures to understand and compare operating results across accounting periods, for financial and operational decision making, for planning and forecasting purposes, to measure executive compensation and to evaluate Akamai’s financial performance. The non-GAAP financial measure used in this release is non-GAAP net income per diluted share.

Management believes that this non-GAAP financial measure reflects Akamai’s ongoing business in a manner that allows for meaningful comparisons and analysis of trends in the business, as it facilitates comparing financial results across accounting periods and to those of our peer companies. Management also believes that this non-GAAP financial measure enables investors to evaluate Akamai’s operating results and future prospects in the same manner as management. The non-GAAP net income per diluted share metric may exclude expenses and gains that may be unusual in nature, infrequent or not reflective of Akamai’s ongoing operating results.

This non-GAAP financial measure does not replace the presentation of Akamai’s GAAP financial results and should only be used as a supplement to, not as a substitute for, Akamai’s financial results presented in accordance with GAAP. For historical non-GAAP measures, Akamai has provided a reconciliation of each non-GAAP financial measure used in its financial reporting and investor presentations to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure. These reconciliations can be found under the caption “Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures” on the Investor Relations section of Akamai’s website.

Akamai provides forward-looking statements in the form of guidance during its quarterly earnings conference calls.  This guidance is provided on a non-GAAP basis and cannot be reconciled to the closest GAAP measure without unreasonable effort because of the unpredictability of the amounts and timing of events affecting the items we exclude from non-GAAP measures. For example, stock-based compensation is unpredictable for Akamai’s performance-based awards, which can fluctuate significantly based on current expectations of future achievement of performance-based targets. Amortization of intangible assets, acquisition-related costs and restructuring costs are all impacted by the timing and size of potential future actions, which are difficult to predict. In addition, from time to time, Akamai excludes certain items that occur infrequently, which are also inherently difficult to predict and estimate. It is also difficult to predict the tax effect of the items we exclude and to estimate certain discrete tax items, like the resolution of tax audits or changes to tax laws. As such, the costs that are being excluded from non-GAAP guidance are difficult to predict and a reconciliation or a range of results could lead to disclosure that would be imprecise or potentially misleading. Material changes to any one of the exclusions could have a significant effect on our guidance and future GAAP results.

Akamai’s definition of the non-GAAP measure used in this press release is outlined below:

Non-GAAP net income per diluted share – Non-GAAP net income divided by weighted average diluted common shares outstanding. Diluted weighted average shares outstanding are adjusted in non-GAAP per share calculations for the shares that would be delivered to Akamai pursuant to the note hedge transactions entered into in connection with the issuances of $1,150 million of convertible senior notes due 2027 and 2025, respectively. Under GAAP, shares delivered under hedge transactions are not considered offsetting shares in the fully-diluted share calculation until they are delivered. However, the company would receive a benefit from the note hedge transactions and would not allow the dilution to occur, so management believes that adjusting for this benefit provides a meaningful view of operating performance. With respect to the convertible senior notes due in each of 2027 and 2025, unless Akamai’s weighted average stock price is greater than $116.18 and $95.10, respectively, the initial conversion price, there will be no difference between GAAP and non-GAAP diluted weighted average common shares outstanding.

Non-GAAP net income – GAAP net income adjusted for the following tax-affected items: amortization of acquired intangible assets; stock-based compensation; amortization of capitalized stock-based compensation; acquisition-related costs; restructuring charges; amortization of debt discount and issuance costs; amortization of capitalized interest expense; certain gains and losses on investments; income and losses from equity method investment; and other non-recurring or unusual items that may arise from time to time.

The non-GAAP adjustments, and Akamai’s basis for excluding them from non-GAAP financial measures, are outlined below:

• Amortization of acquired intangible assets – Akamai has incurred amortization of intangible assets, included in its GAAP financial statements, related to various acquisitions Akamai has made. The amount of an acquisition’s purchase price allocated to intangible assets and term of its related amortization can vary significantly and is unique to each acquisition; therefore, Akamai excludes amortization of acquired intangible assets from its non-GAAP financial measures to provide investors with a consistent basis for comparing pre- and post-acquisition operating results.
• Stock-based compensation and amortization of capitalized stock-based compensation – Although stock-based compensation is an important aspect of the compensation paid to Akamai’s employees, the grant date fair value varies based on the stock price at the time of grant, varying valuation methodologies, subjective assumptions and the variety of award types. This makes the comparison of Akamai’s current financial results to previous and future periods difficult to interpret; therefore, Akamai believes it is useful to exclude stock-based compensation and amortization of capitalized stock-based compensation from its non-GAAP financial measures in order to highlight the performance of Akamai’s core business and to be consistent with the way many investors evaluate its performance and compare its operating results to peer companies.
• Acquisition-related costs – Acquisition-related costs include transaction fees, advisory fees, due diligence costs and other direct costs associated with strategic activities, as well as certain additional compensation costs payable to employees acquired from the Linode acquisition if employed for a certain period of time. The additional compensation cost was initiated by and determined by the seller, and is in addition to normal levels of compensation, including retention programs, offered by Akamai. Acquisition-related costs are impacted by the timing and size of the acquisitions, and Akamai excludes acquisition-related costs from its non-GAAP financial measures to provide a useful comparison of  operating results to prior periods and to its peer companies because such amounts vary significantly based on the magnitude of the acquisition transactions and do not reflect Akamai’s core operations.
• Restructuring charges – Akamai has incurred restructuring charges from programs that have significantly changed either the scope of the business undertaken by the Company or the manner in which that business is conducted. These charges include severance and related expenses for workforce reductions, impairments of long-lived assets that will no longer be used in operations (including right-of-use assets, other facility-related property and equipment and internal-use software) and termination fees for any contracts canceled as part of these programs. Akamai excludes these items from its non-GAAP financial measures when evaluating its continuing business performance as such items vary significantly based on the magnitude of the restructuring action and do not reflect expected future operating expenses. In addition, these charges do not necessarily provide meaningful insight into the fundamentals of current or past operations of its business.
• Amortization of debt discount and issuance costs and amortization of capitalized interest expense – In August 2019, Akamai issued $1,150 million of convertible senior notes due 2027 with a coupon interest rate of 0.375%. In May 2018, Akamai issued $1,150 million of convertible senior notes due 2025 with a coupon interest rate of 0.125%. The imputed interest rates of these convertible senior notes were 3.10% and 4.26%, respectively. This is a result of the debt discounts recorded for the conversion features that, prior to January 1, 2022, were required to be separately accounted for as equity under GAAP, thereby reducing the carrying value of the convertible debt instruments. The debt discounts were amortized as interest expense. On January 1, 2022, Akamai adopted the new guidance for accounting for convertible instruments. This new guidance eliminated separate accounting for the equity portion, and thus the amortization of the debt discount that was recorded as interest expense.  Prior to January 1, 2022, Akamai excluded this non-cash interest expense from its non-GAAP results because it was not representative of ongoing operating performance.  After January 1, 2022, this interest expense is no longer included in or excluded from GAAP or non-GAAP results. Additionally,  the issuance costs of the convertible senior notes are amortized to interest expense and are also excluded from Akamai’s non-GAAP results because management believes the non-cash amortization expense  is not representative of ongoing operating performance.
• Gains and losses on investments – Akamai has recorded gains and losses from the disposition, changes to fair value and impairment of certain investments. Akamai believes excluding these amounts from its non-GAAP financial measures is useful to investors as the types of events giving rise to these gains and losses are not representative of Akamai’s core business operations and ongoing operating performance
• Income and losses from equity method investment – Akamai records income or losses on its share of earnings and losses from its equity method investment. Akamai excludes such income and losses because it does not have direct control over the operations of the investment and the related income and losses are not representative of its core business operations.
• Income tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments and certain discrete tax items – The non-GAAP adjustments described above are reported on a pre-tax basis. The income tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments is the difference between GAAP and non-GAAP income tax expense. Non-GAAP income tax expense is computed on non-GAAP pre-tax income (GAAP pre-tax income adjusted for non-GAAP adjustments) and excludes certain discrete tax items (such as recording or releasing of valuation allowances), if any. Akamai believes that applying the non-GAAP adjustments and their related income tax effect allows Akamai to highlight income attributable to its core operations.