Akamai Q4 results shine as cloud security sales surge

Akamai reported a strong fourth quarter and revamped the company into two units focused on Web and media customers. Akamai's results led the technology earnings parade on Tuesday.

The earnings were better than expected and went along with $1 billion in stock buybacks to move shares higher in afterhours trading.

Akamai reported fourth quarter earnings of $88 million, or 49 cents a share, on revenue of $579 million, up 8 percent from a year ago. Non-GAAP earnings were 72 cents a share, a dime better than expectations.

For 2015, Akamai reported earnings of $1.78 a share on revenue of $2.2 billion, up 12 percent from a year ago. The company saw strong growth in its cloud security unit.

As for the reorganization, Akamai will have two divisions focused on its media and Web products and customers. Here's a look at Akamai's results by unit.

Among other tech earnings:

• NCR reported fourth quarter earnings of 27 cents a share on revenue of $1.68 billion, down 5 percent from a year ago. Non-GAAP earnings for the quarter were 92 cents a share. Wall Street was expecting fourth quarter non-GAAP earnings of 87 cents a share. NCR said that its performance was solid courtesy of retail and hospitality sector wins. For 2016, NCR projected revenue of $6.1 billion to $6.2 billion with non-GAAP earnings of $2.72 a share to $2.82 a share. First quarter revenue will be between $1.44 billion and $1.45 billion with non-GAAP earnings of 30 cents a share to 35 cents a share. That outlook fell short of expectations.
• Nuance Communications reported a fiscal first quarter net loss of $12.1 million, or 4 cents a share, on revenue of $486.1 million. Non-GAAP earnings were 36 cents a share. The results were 3 cents better than Wall Street estimates.
• Marketo reported a fourth quarter loss of $17.2 million, or 40 cents a share, on revenue of $58.3 million, up 38 percent from a year ago. The non-GAAP loss was 13 cents a share in the fourth quarter. Wall Street was looking for a loss of 22 cents a share. For 2015, Marketo reported a net loss of $71.5 million, or $1.68 a share, on revenue of $209.9 million, up 40 percent from a year ago. As for the outlook, Marketo projected first quarter revenue to be $61 million to $62 million with a non-GAAP loss of 16 cents a share to 18 cents a share. For 2016, Marketo is projecting revenue between $267 million and $277 million with a non-GAAP loss of 47 cents a share to 53 cents a share. The outlook was a bit better to in line with Wall Street estimates. For 2015, NCR reported a net loss of $174 million on revenue of $6.37 billion.