Akamai Technologies' (AKAM) sales and earnings growth are likely to remain constrained amid near-term challenges in its content delivery and security businesses, Morgan Stanley said in a note Tuesday.

The firm said growth will remain limited over the next 12 to 18 months as Akamai undergoes a long-term transition into a cloud provider, a strategy it believes will take years and significant investment to scale.

With content delivery representing about one-third of Akamai's revenue, Morgan Stanley said slowing traffic volumes are likely to keep growth in flat to negative territory on a year-on-year basis.

Additionally, with Akamai's security business maturing, a previously estimated high teens to 20% YoY growth has now decelerated to a 10% expectation as core solutions in infrastructure and web security look increasingly penetrated and new growth areas have not sufficiently scaled.

Though the brokerage sees long-term potential in Akamai's cloud computing segment, which accounts for about 16% of revenue, it said the business remains too small to offset current headwinds and will require sustained investment to compete with larger players.

Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to underweight from equal-weight and lowered its price target to $85 from $90.

Shares of Akamai Technologies were down more than 2% in recent trading.

Price: 73.94, Change: -1.56, Percent Change: -2.07