Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Trading Down 2.1% – Here’s Why

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) shares fell 2.1% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $136.69 and last traded at $139.6320. 9,950,686 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 10% from the average session volume of 9,072,320 shares. The stock had previously closed at $142.58.

Arista Networks News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Arista Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Record Q4 results — Arista reported a beat on revenue ($2.49B) and EPS, with strong year-over-year revenue growth, underscoring continued demand for its cloud and AI networking products. Arista Networks, Inc. 2025 Q4 – Results – Earnings Call Presentation
• Positive Sentiment: AI and SD?WAN tailwinds highlighted — Management and analysts expect AI networking revenues to accelerate in 2026 and cited expansion in campus/branch and VeloCloud SD?WAN as additional growth drivers. These product mix shifts support a multi-year growth story. Arista Results Highlight AI Networking Growth And VeloCloud SD WAN Expansion
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains constructive — Aggregated analyst recommendations show a “moderate buy” consensus, which can help underpin the stock if guidance meets expectations. Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation under the microscope — Several pieces are re-assessing Arista’s valuation relative to its AI/story growth; investors are weighing premium multiples against execution risk and long-term growth assumptions. Assessing Arista Networks (ANET) Valuation As Growth And AI Infrastructure Story Draw Focus
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor interest and comparisons — Coverage pieces and screeners are driving attention (Zacks comparisons vs. peers like ASTS and “is it a buy now?” writeups), which can increase short-term volatility but don’t change fundamentals. ASTS vs. ANET: Which Connectivity Stock is the Better Buy Today?
• Negative Sentiment: Margin pressure and flat near-term estimates — Analysts flagged margin compression and largely unchanged near-term estimates despite the beat, raising questions about sustainability of profit expansion and tempering upside. Should ANET Stock Be Added to Your Portfolio Post Record Q4 Earnings?

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on ANET. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $178.00 price objective (up from $170.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Erste Group Bank cut Arista Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Arista Networks from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $184.00 price objective (up previously from $183.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arista Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.44.

Arista Networks Price Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $133.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $137.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $175.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.42.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The technology company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.38 billion. Arista Networks had a net margin of 38.99% and a return on equity of 30.37%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 28.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In related news, Director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.43, for a total value of $1,123,440.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,373,967.12. This trade represents a 44.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Kenneth Duda sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.16, for a total transaction of $3,694,800.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 12,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,598,124.16. This represents a 69.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 160,464 shares of company stock worth $20,351,388 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Arista Networks

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Caitlin John LLC increased its position in Arista Networks by 5,043.2% in the fourth quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 7,509 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $984,000 after buying an additional 7,363 shares in the last quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 3,803.7% during the 4th quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC now owns 4,216 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $563,000 after acquiring an additional 4,108 shares during the period. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Arista Networks by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,773 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC raised its stake in Arista Networks by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 206,121 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,008,000 after acquiring an additional 33,775 shares during the period. Finally, FAS Wealth Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Arista Networks by 59.4% during the fourth quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 2,747 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Company Profile

Arista Networks, Inc is a technology company that designs and sells cloud networking solutions for large-scale data centers and enterprise environments. The company is best known for its high-performance switching and routing platforms, which are used to build scalable, low-latency networks for cloud service providers, internet companies, financial services, telecommunications, and enterprise IT. Arista’s offerings emphasize programmability, automation and telemetry to support modern, software-driven network architectures.

Central to Arista’s product portfolio is its Extensible Operating System (EOS), a modular network operating system that provides consistent programmability, stateful control and advanced visibility across the company’s hardware platforms.