Limelight Networks Shares Fall After Downgrade

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Limelight Networks Inc. slid Friday after an analyst downgraded the network services provider citing pricing pressures and slower traffic growth.

Raymond James analyst Michael Turits downgraded Limelight to "Underperform" from "Market Perform" and said the company's second-quarter results indicated worsening pricing pressures for the company as well as for rival Akamai Technologies Inc. The analyst kept a "Market Perform" rating on Akamai.

"Limelight, we believe, will suffer the worst, seeing increased price pressure both from above...and from below," the analyst wrote in a note to investors.

From "above," Limelight is under pressure from an "increasingly price aggressive Akamai," the analyst wrote. From below, it's facing pressures from "from smaller but increasingly capable," venture backed companies.

Shares of Tempe, Ariz.-based Limelight fell 34 cents, or 9 percent, to $3.41 in midday trading. In the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded between $1.75 and $5.78.

Shares of Cambridge, Mass.-based Akamai fell 19 cents to $17.84.