The end of the earnings season is always a good time to take a step back and see who shined (and who didn’t). Let’s take a look at how content delivery stocks fared in Q3, starting with Fastly (NASDAQ:FSLY).

The amount of content on the internet is exploding, whether it is music, movies and or e-commerce stores. Consumer demand for this content creates network congestion, much like a digital traffic jam which drives demand for specialized content delivery networks (CDN) services that alleviate potential network bottlenecks.

The 4 content delivery stocks we track reported a solid Q3. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 2.9% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was 1.2% above.

Amidst this news, share prices of the companies have had a rough stretch. On average, they are down 5.2% since the latest earnings results.

Fastly (NASDAQ:FSLY)

Taking its name from the core advantage it delivers to customers, Fastly (NASDAQ:FSLY) operates an edge cloud platform that processes, secures, and delivers web content as close to end users as possible, enabling faster digital experiences.

Fastly reported revenues of $190.2 million, up 20.2% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 1.2%. Overall, it was a favorable quarter for the company with EPS guidance for next quarter exceeding analysts’ expectations and a solid beat of analysts’ adjusted operating income estimates.

“Our record third quarter results reflect strong execution as customers continued to adopt more of our products and deepen their use of our platform,” said Kip Compton, CEO of Fastly. “Delivering record revenue and free cash flow demonstrates our value proposition as we help customers achieve critical business outcomes and build for AI scale.”

Investor expectations, however, were likely higher than Wall Street’s published projections, leaving some wishing for even better results (analysts’ consensus estimates are those published by big banks and advisory firms, not the investors who make buy and sell decisions). The stock is down 22.5% since reporting and currently trades at $16.30.

Is now the time to buy Fastly? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Best Q3: Cloudflare (NYSE:NET)

With a massive network spanning more than 310 cities in over 120 countries, Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) provides a global network that delivers security, performance and reliability services to protect websites, applications, and corporate networks.

Cloudflare reported revenues of $782.5 million, up 39.2% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 6.2%. The business had an impressive quarter with a solid beat of analysts’ billings estimates and EPS guidance for next quarter exceeding analysts’ expectations.

Cloudflare achieved the biggest analyst estimate beat, highest guidance raise, and fastest revenue growth among its peers. The market seems happy with the results as the stock is up 26.5% since reporting. It currently trades at $309.23.

Is now the time to buy Cloudflare? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Slowest Q3: Akamai (NASDAQ:AKAM)

With a massive distributed network spanning 4,100+ points of presence in nearly 130 countries, Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) provides a global distributed cloud platform that helps businesses deliver, secure, and optimize their digital experiences online.

Akamai reported revenues of $1.12 billion, up 6.4% year on year, in line with analysts’ expectations. It was a sluggish quarter as it posted EPS guidance for next quarter missing analysts’ expectations significantly and full-year revenue guidance slightly missing analysts’ expectations.

Akamai delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates, weakest guidance update, and slowest revenue growth of the whole group. Interestingly, the stock is up 6.2% since the results and currently trades at $82.63.

Read our full analysis of Akamai’s results here.

F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Originally named after the F5 tornado, the most powerful on the meteorological scale, F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) provides security and delivery solutions that protect applications across cloud, data center, and edge environments for large organizations.

F5 reported revenues of $917.4 million, up 13.3% year on year. This print surpassed analysts’ expectations by 3.6%. More broadly, it was a satisfactory quarter as it also recorded a solid beat of analysts’ billings estimates but EPS guidance for next quarter slightly missing analysts’ expectations.

The stock is down 30.9% since reporting and currently trades at $317.63.

Read our full, actionable report on F5 here, it’s free.

Market update

Over the past year, investors have been forced to repeatedly answer the same question: what is the market’s biggest risk? The answer has changed several times, and each shift has reshaped market leadership.

Late in 2025 and early 2026, artificial intelligence became the market’s primary uncertainty. Investors questioned whether AI would erode software pricing power and weaken competitive moats as AI made it easier to replicate once-differentiated products.

By the spring, technology took a back seat to geopolitics. The U.S. conflict with Iran briefly became the market’s dominant narrative, raising concerns about oil prices, inflation, and global growth. But as energy markets remained orderly and fears of a prolonged supply disruption faded, investors quickly turned their focus back to fundamentals.

Want to invest in winners with rock-solid fundamentals? Check out our Top 5 Growth Stocks and add them to your watchlist. These companies are poised for growth regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate.