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Shares of Akamai Technologies (Nasdaq: AKAM) are back below $30 this morning, down close to 4% on broad-market fears that Congress won't negotiate a solution to the debt crisis as next week's deadline looms.

Surely the headline writers have a point, but it's also possible that investors are jittery about the Web content delivery specialist's second-quarter results, which are due after the bell today. Here's a closer look at what Wall Street is expecting:

 

Q2 2011 Earnings Per Share

Q2 2011 Revenue

FY 2011 Earnings Per Share

FY 2011 Revenue

Avg. estimate $0.36 $277.98 mil. $1.57 $1,170 mil.
Est. growth* 5.9% 13.3% 9.8% 14.3%
Analysts following 22 22 22 22

Source: Yahoo! Finance.
* Year-over-year.

Expect investors and traders alike to watch these numbers closely. A miss or even a match would raise concerns that stiff competition from the likes of Limelight Networks (Nasdaq: LLNW), Level 3 Communications (Nasdaq: LVLT), or privately held up-and-comers Cotendo and EdgeCast is taking a toll.

For me, the bigger worry is accelerating growth heading into the second half. I'll be looking for evidence that long-term deals with Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) and its peers are boosting profits by pushing huge volume through Akamai's network -- just as management promised back in February.

What are you looking for? Do you believe Akamai will beat estimates? Please vote in the poll below and then leave a comment to explain your thinking. You can also add Akamai to your watchlist for up-to-date analysis on the stock as soon as it's published.