Jim Cramer's "Terrific" Stock Pick: Akamai's AI Leap

Jim Cramer offered a strong "terrific" endorsement for Akamai Technologies (AKAM) during the lightning round segment of Mad Money. This commendation from the influential host has drawn significant investor attention to the company, which has been publicly traded for 28 years.

Akamai, founded in 1998 with a content delivery network to accelerate websites, has evolved under CEO Tom Leighton. The company's strategic direction has moved towards cybersecurity, which is now its largest business segment, and cloud services for AI applications. Recent collaborations, including a partnership with Nvidia, aim to leverage Akamai's extensive edge infrastructure for AI inference.

Evidence of this successful pivot is Akamai's recent financial performance and significant new business commitments. The company reported beating second-quarter expectations, with cloud infrastructure revenue surging 39% year-over-year. Crucially, Akamai has secured over $2.8 billion in multi-year cloud deals for 2026, including a notable $1.8 billion contract with Anthropic and a $600 million deal with a U.S. robotics company, ensuring years of visible AI-related revenue.