# Why We're NOT Buying Fastly (Even at 22% Growth) Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/chip-stock-investor-podcast-6441813/why-we-re-not-buying-fastly-even-at-22-growth Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/chip-stock-investor-podcast-6441813/why-we-re-not-buying-fastly-even-at-22-growth.md Podcast: [Chip Stock Investor Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/chip-stock-investor-podcast-6441813) Published: 2026-08-25T09:55:54+00:00 Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/chipstockinvestor/episodes/Why-Were-NOT-Buying-Fastly-Even-at-22-Growth-e3ns2ug Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/e2cacf78/podcast/play/124701072/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-7-25%2F430493659-44100-2-5948bad83c885.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/chip-stock-investor-podcast-6441813/episodes/why-we-re-not-buying-fastly-even-at-22-growth Duration seconds: 715 ## Resource Fastly's revenue just re-accelerated into the mid-20% range — but our reverse DCF says the stock still needs 22%+ FCF growth for a decade to justify $26. Here's why that's a hard pass for now. Part 3 of our CDN series puts Fastly under the microscope after comparing it against Cloudflare and Akamai. We walk through our full investment thesis checklist — supply chain position, technology stickiness, revenue model, and capital structure — before running a reverse DCF on Fastly's free cash flow per share. Revenue growth has re-accelerated, and operating margins are improving, but GAAP profitability still lags Cloudflare, stock-based compensation remains elevated relative to revenue, and share dilution is running well above our target threshold. We also look at customer stickiness — including the loss of a major account to Cloudflare — as a proxy for platform depth and competitive moat. The result: Fastly lands on our watchlist rather than our buy list, with a price level flagged for renewed interest if shares pull back meaningfully. We close the series by connecting CDN infrastructure to the broader AI infrastructure buildout, and how a small CDN/cybersecurity basket — anchored by Cloudflare — fits inside a semiconductor and infrastructure-focused portfolio. Research-backed analysis, not a stock tip. Always do your own due diligence. — Members of Semiconductor Insider get our complete company-by-company research, valuation models, and portfolio allocation notes on Cloudflare, Akamai, and Fastly, plus weekly live Q&A and a growing set of tools to build your process: https://www.chipstockinvestor.com All our socials: https://linktr.ee/chipstockinvestor If you're getting value from the show, follow so you don't miss the next one. — Disclosure: Some links above are affili… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/chip-stock-investor-podcast-6441813/episodes/why-we-re-not-buying-fastly-even-at-22-growth/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/chip-stock-investor-podcast-6441813/why-we-re-not-buying-fastly-even-at-22-growth.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.