Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.12 EPS

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) posted its earnings results on Tuesday. The technology company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.12, FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.33 billion. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.65% and a net margin of 38.37%.

Here are the key takeaways from Arista Networks’ conference call:

• Record Q3 performance: Revenue reached $3.66 billion, up 58.5% year over year, while operating margin exceeded 49% and diluted EPS rose 55.8% to $1.20.
• Raised outlook: Arista increased its 2026 revenue guidance to approximately $13.3 billion and introduced 2027 guidance of about $18.5 billion, implying 38%–40% growth and roughly 49% operating margin.
• AI networking momentum is accelerating: The company now has more than 100 Etherlink customers and expects AI fabrics to double to approximately $7 billion in 2027, supported by deployments spanning more than 10 gigawatts and multiple accelerator types.
• Enterprise and campus share gains: Arista expects its cognitive campus business to grow about 60% to roughly $2 billion in 2027, driven by demand for reliable, secure, automated networks and its EOS, CloudVision, and zero-trust capabilities.
• Investment and supply-chain risks remain: Inventory rose to $3.2 billion and purchase commitments increased to $11.4 billion as Arista invests ahead of demand; gross margin is expected to remain lower at 62%–64% in 2027, while advanced AI products continue to face longer lead times and execution requirements.

Arista Networks Trading Up 3.3%

Shares of NYSE ANET traded up $5.44 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $169.58. The stock had a trading volume of 12,530,849 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,812,347. The firm has a market cap of $213.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.49, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.60. Arista Networks has a fifty-two week low of $114.52 and a fifty-two week high of $217.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $194.30 and a 200-day moving average of $165.10.

Arista Networks News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 earnings were $1.20 per share, above the $1.08 consensus and up from $0.75 a year earlier. Revenue of $3.66 billion also beat the $3.33 billion estimate. Arista Networks Q3 earnings and revenues beat estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Revenue growth was reported at 58%—the highest year-over-year rate since Arista’s IPO—and the company said it achieved record profitability. Q4 guidance was characterized as strong, supporting expectations for continued demand. Arista Networks stock pops on Q3 earnings beat and strong Q4 guidance
• Neutral Sentiment: Operating margin widened, but gross margin slipped as product sales made up a larger share of revenue. That mix shift could limit how much of strong sales growth translates into future profitability. Arista revenue up 58% as Q4 outlook slows

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 767,029 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.22, for a total value of $154,341,575.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 16,387,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,297,589,536.82. This represents a 4.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 300,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.60, for a total value of $60,780,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 180,843,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,638,801,524.80. The trade was a 0.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 3,619,449 shares of company stock worth $739,787,226 in the last 90 days. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on ANET. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Monday, August 31st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $220.00 price target on the stock. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Monday. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $289.00 target price (up from $195.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Arista Networks from $175.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $250.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $232.95.

Arista Networks Company Profile

Arista Networks, Inc develops and sells cloud networking solutions for data centers, cloud service providers, enterprises and specialized computing environments. The company’s products are designed to support high-performance, scalable and automated networks used for cloud computing, artificial intelligence, data analytics and other demanding applications.

Arista’s portfolio includes data center and campus switches, routing platforms, wireless networking products, network operating software and network management tools.