Despite dropping off a cliff after its most recent earnings report, Akamai Technologies (AKAM) remains my favorite tech stock. On April 25, Akamai reported first quarter earnings of $19.2 million, or 11 cents per diluted share, versus $11.5 million, or 7 cents a share, year-over-year. Revenue came in at $139.3 million, compared to $90.8 million in the first quarter last year. Excluding special items, net income was $50.7 million or 28 cents a diluted share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial/First Call had forecast earnings of 28 cents on revenue of $138.82 million.Shares of Akamai have climbed more than 300% since the beginning of 2005, and more than 5000% since its lows back in 2002. Having gotten used to Akamai beating earnings Read the rest of this entry »

U.S. Data Summary for Friday, June 1.
The bombardment this week of economic data ended this morning with a slew of U.S. data, signaling a moderately strong to stronger U.S. economy. Leading the way was the Job’s report by the Labor Department, which showed an increase of 157,000 jobs in the month of May versus an forecast of 135,000 by economists. April job growth was also revised down by 8,000 to an increase of 80,000 jobs. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate remained at 4.5%, in line with economists’ forecast. The main piece of data is most likely Read the rest of this entry »