Piper likes what it heard at Akamai's analyst day

• Akamai (NASDAQ:AKAM -0.4%) used today's analyst day (webcast) to argue IP video growth, security opportunities, and low international penetration will act as growth drivers, reports Piper's Michael Olson (Overweight rating, $69 target). He also notes the CDN leader reiterated its Q1 guidance, as well as a goal to hit $5B/year in sales by 2020 (2015 revenue was $2.2B).
• Akamai also reiterated pricing for its lower-margin media delivery business (declining as a % of sales as tech giants bring more CDN activity in-house) remains competitive, and that it plans to carry out more buybacks and acquisitions. A $1B buyback was announced in Akamai's Feb. 9 Q4 report, and the company has made a slew of small and mid-sized acquisitions in recent years.
• Shares are up 40% since the Q4 report, but remain 29% below a May high of $78.44.