Akamai slides; Wells Fargo downgrades on traffic/forex concerns

• Stating checks indicate Akamai's (AKAM -2.2%) media traffic has dropped in October, Wells Fargo has downgraded the CDN leader to Market Perform, and cut its valuation range to $57-$61 from $70-$75.
• Wells is also worried about the impact of a strong dollar on Akamai's foreign sales. eBay disclosed yesterday forex is taking a toll on its 2H14 performance.
• Akamai was hit earlier this year by news major customer Apple is following Netflix's lead by building its own CDN; the CDN went live this summer. The company has made cutting its dependence on low-margin media delivery sales a priority.
• Rival Limelight (LLNW -2.5%), more dependent on media delivery than Akamai, is also off. Akamai's Q3 report is due on July 30.