Erste Group Bank Expects Higher Earnings for Arista Networks

Key Points

• Erste Group Bank raised its FY2026 earnings estimate for Arista Networks to $3.25 per share from $3.13, and it now sees FY2027 EPS at $3.95.
• Arista recently beat quarterly expectations, reporting $0.87 EPS on revenue of $2.71 billion, with sales up 35.1% year over year and Q2 guidance set at 0.880 EPS.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on the stock: multiple firms have lifted targets, and MarketBeat data shows a Buy consensus with an average price target of $181.84.

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) - Research analysts at Erste Group Bank upped their FY2026 earnings per share estimates for Arista Networks in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, May 12th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now anticipates that the technology company will post earnings per share of $3.25 for the year, up from their previous forecast of $3.13. The consensus estimate for Arista Networks' current full-year earnings is $3.28 per share. Erste Group Bank also issued estimates for Arista Networks' FY2027 earnings at $3.95 EPS.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The technology company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.06. Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.10% and a net margin of 38.32%.The firm had revenue of $2.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 35.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Arista Networks has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.880 EPS.

Several other research firms also recently commented on ANET. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Arista Networks from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research downgraded Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $178.00 target price (up from $170.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Arista Networks from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Arista Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $181.84.

Arista Networks Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE ANET opened at $141.98 on Monday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $144.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $137.51. Arista Networks has a 52 week low of $83.86 and a 52 week high of $179.80. The company has a market capitalization of $178.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 101,189,629 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $13,258,877,000 after buying an additional 1,188,799 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 46,970,697 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $6,154,570,000 after buying an additional 628,146 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 37,171,766 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,870,618,000 after buying an additional 380,724 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,447,629 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,455,095,000 after buying an additional 477,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Arista Networks during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,558,563,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In related news, CFO Chantelle Yvette Breithaupt sold 8,890 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.02, for a total transaction of $1,378,127.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 60,734 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,414,984.68. This trade represents a 12.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Kenneth Duda sold 32,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.31, for a total value of $5,225,920.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 12,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,119,110.56. This represents a 71.15% 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 1,502,729 shares of company stock worth $246,707,719 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Key Arista Networks News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Reuters-based 13-F filings show institutional investors added to or started positions in major AI infrastructure names, including Arista Networks, signaling continued professional buying interest in the company’s long-term AI networking story. Institutional investors boosted holdings of AI infrastructure plays during first quarter
• Positive Sentiment: Raymond James upgraded Arista to Outperform, citing share gains in AI-backend and campus networking, plus demand from major customers such as Meta Platforms and Microsoft. Arista upgraded to outperform as it gains share in AI-backend and campus: Raymond James
• Positive Sentiment: Truist said Arista’s post-earnings pullback may be an attractive buying opportunity, keeping the name on bullish watch lists as investors weigh strong underlying demand against near-term volatility. Truist Views Arista Networks (ANET)’s Post-Q1 Sell-Off As An Attractive Buying Opportunity
• Neutral Sentiment: Several recent articles compare Arista with other AI-related stocks and question whether the rally has already priced in much of the upside, which may be adding to investor caution after a strong multi-year run. Is It Too Late To Consider Arista Networks (ANET) After Strong Multi Year Share Gains?
• Neutral Sentiment: Other coverage notes Arista’s AI demand remains strong, but supply-chain constraints and margin pressure could limit near-term upside even as revenue guidance stays solid. AI-Fueled Demand Amid Supply Strains Might Change The Case For Investing In Arista Networks (ANET)
• Negative Sentiment: One analyst-style comparison argued Jabil looks stronger than Arista on valuation and AI data-center exposure, reflecting some relative-value skepticism toward ANET. Arista vs. Jabil: Which AI-Driven Tech Stock Looks Stronger Now?

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.