moderate - CDN services are mission-critical infrastructure for digital businesses, providing downside protection during recessions. However, traffic growth correlates with e-commerce volumes, streaming consumption, and digital advertising spend. Enterprise IT budget cuts during downturns can delay new customer acquisitions and reduce expansion sales. Media and entertainment verticals (estimated 25-30% of revenue) are cyclically sensitive. B2B software and SaaS customers (estimated 40% of revenue) show more resilience.

Rising rates create multiple headwinds: (1) Valuation compression for unprofitable growth stocks - Fastly trades at 4.2x sales versus historical range of 6-12x during zero-rate environment. (2) Higher cost of capital increases hurdle rates for infrastructure investments and M&A. (3) Enterprise customers face tighter budgets, extending sales cycles. (4) Fastly's $120M debt at variable rates increases interest expense. However, $260M cash position and positive operating cash flow ($100M TTM) provide buffer. Path to profitability becomes more critical in higher-rate environment as growth-at-any-cost strategies lose favor.

growth - Investors are betting on edge computing secular tailwinds, path to profitability inflection, and potential acquisition target status. Recent 154% six-month return attracts momentum traders. High revenue growth (15%) combined with improving unit economics appeals to growth-at-reasonable-price (GARP) investors. Unprofitable profile and negative ROE (-13%) excludes value and income investors. Institutional ownership around 85% suggests professional growth managers dominate shareholder base.