Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Stock Price Up 2.7% – Should You Buy?

Posted by Brenda Bartman on Sep 5th, 2026

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET – Get Free Report)’s stock price traded up 2.7% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $192.00 and last traded at $191.13. Approximately 3,996,719 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 8,357,014 shares. The stock had previously closed at $186.10.

Arista Networks News Roundup

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

Positive Sentiment: Arista’s investment case remains supported by surging AI infrastructure demand, improving supply-chain execution and strong free cash flow. The company’s shares have gained 37.3% over the past six months, although the recent advance has raised questions about how much upside remains. ANET Rises 37.3% in Six Months: Is There More Room to Grow?
Positive Sentiment: The company’s latest quarterly results provide a fundamental catalyst: adjusted earnings of $1.02 per share exceeded the $0.89 consensus estimate, while revenue of $3.04 billion topped the $2.83 billion forecast and increased 37.7% year over year. Arista guided to third-quarter EPS of $1.06-$1.08. Arista Networks Offers Entry After 42% Gain Amid Earnings Beat; Data Center Demand Surging
Positive Sentiment: Deutsche Bank initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $220 price target. This adds to a generally favorable analyst view, with a consensus Buy rating and an average target of $225.76; UBS, Jefferies and Morgan Stanley have also cited targets above the current trading range.
Neutral Sentiment: Arista edged higher even as networking peer Ciena weakened after issuing in-line guidance, suggesting investors may be differentiating ANET based on its stronger AI and cloud-networking growth outlook. Ciena Corporation Tumbles 10% as In-Line Guidance Overshadows Earnings Beat, Arista Edges Higher
Negative Sentiment: CFO Chantelle Breithaupt sold 612 shares worth approximately $119,811. The transaction reduced her holdings by 0.87%, but it was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, limiting its significance as a bearish signal. Arista’s elevated valuation—about 60 times earnings and a PEG ratio of 2.21—also leaves the stock sensitive to slower growth or weaker guidance.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ANET has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $259.00 target price (up from $187.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Arista Networks from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Arista Networks from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Arista Networks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $164.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $225.76.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Arista Networks

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $244.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.05, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.62. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $182.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $160.16.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.13. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.65% and a net margin of 38.37%.The business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.73 EPS. Arista Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. Arista Networks has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.060-1.080 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Arista Networks, Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Arista Networks news, CFO Chantelle Breithaupt sold 612 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.77, for a total value of $119,811.24. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 69,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,688,434.17. The trade was a 0.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 13,809 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.79, for a total value of $2,648,428.11. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 9,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,901,981.43. This trade represents a 58.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 3,782,694 shares of company stock worth $726,728,187 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Arista Networks by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 4,340 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $737,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Range Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Arista Networks by 43.4% in the second quarter. Range Advisory LLC now owns 3,454 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 61.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC now owns 183 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LP lifted its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 233,278 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,629,000 after purchasing an additional 1,131 shares during the period. Finally, Formuepleje A S acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,466,000. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Arista Networks

(Get Free Report)

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.