What Do You Expect From Akamai Today?

Investing decisions are made from a mosaic of data, yet synthesizing what matters can be tough. Enter the Fool poll. We show you the big headlines; you tell us what's factoring into your investing decisions and help your fellow Fools in the process.

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.