AI is a boon for 3 internet traffic cop stocks. Cramer says only 1 is a buy right now

CNBC's Jim Cramer said Thursday that the explosion of web traffic from AI agents is creating a new growth opportunity for companies that help keep the internet running smoothly. That also means it's creating money-making opportunities for investors.

"One side effect of the AI revolution is that it's already creating an insane amount of web traffic and somebody needs to help us keep the internet running smoothly," the "Mad Money" host said.

Cloudflare, Akamai Technologies and Fastly operate networks of servers that help manage digital traffic, making websites faster and more reliable. Their role is becoming increasingly important as artificial intelligence agents generate far more web activity. Shares have surged 159% year to date, while Cloudflare has climbed 78% and Akamai has gained 22%. All three have far outperformed the S&P 500's roughly 12% advance over the same stretch.

Cloudflare has emerged as a major beneficiary of that trend. CEO Matthew Prince told Cramer in June that traffic from AI agents had already surpassed human traffic on the company's network. Cramer likes the company, but with the stock trading at roughly 279 times this year's expected earnings, he recommends waiting for a pullback before buying.

Akamai recently announced an initiative to build a network of smaller data centers that can process AI workloads closer to users, reducing latency as the industry shifts from training models toward using them at scale. That strategy got a major vote of confidence last week when Anthropic made an $11.6 billion commitment to Akamai for added computing capacity over the next seven years. The stock initially jumped on the news before surrendering most of those gains, creating what Cramer sees as a buying opportunity.

"I think you can buy that stock right here, right now," Cramer said. Akamai trades at less than 16 times this year's expected earnings, and he argued investors are "basically getting the latest Anthropic partnership for free."

Fastly is also repositioning itself for the AI era, shifting from a traditional content delivery network toward an "edge cloud" platform that can capitalize on growing AI-driven traffic. Essentially, this means it places its infrastructure closer to the location where it's needed to offer users faster response times. But at roughly 50 times this year's expected earnings and with a history of sharp swings, Cramer recommends waiting for a better entry point.

"For the moment, Akamai's the only one that's cheap enough for me to pound the table on," Cramer said.

Sign up now for the CNBC Investing Club to follow Jim Cramer's every move in the market.

Disclaimer