FY2026 EPS Forecast for Arista Networks Increased by Analyst

Key Points

• Erste Group Bank raised Arista Networks’ FY2026 EPS forecast to $3.79 from $3.78 and maintained a “Buy” rating; it expects FY2027 EPS of $4.74.
• Arista recently exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.02 EPS versus $0.89 expected and $3.04 billion in revenue versus $2.83 billion expected, with revenue up 37.7% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $235.45, although the stock’s elevated valuation and recent insider selling may weigh on investor sentiment.

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) - Research analysts at Erste Group Bank raised their FY2026 EPS estimates for shares of Arista Networks in a research report issued on Thursday, October 8th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now expects that the technology company will post earnings per share of $3.79 for the year, up from their prior forecast of $3.78. Erste Group Bank has a "Buy" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Arista Networks' current full-year earnings is $3.78 per share. Erste Group Bank also issued estimates for Arista Networks' FY2027 earnings at $4.74 EPS.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.13. Arista Networks had a net margin of 38.37% and a return on equity of 30.65%. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. Arista Networks's quarterly revenue was up 37.7% on a year-over-year basis. Arista Networks has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.060-1.080 EPS.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $210.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $255.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $250.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Arista Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.45.

Arista Networks Stock Down 2.8%

Shares of NYSE:ANET opened at $210.72 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $265.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.47, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.60. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $198.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $172.87. Arista Networks has a fifty-two week low of $114.52 and a fifty-two week high of $217.41.

Institutional Trading of Arista Networks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ANET. Fermata Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Arista Networks during the 3rd quarter worth $238,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its stake in shares of Arista Networks by 131.9% in the third quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 33,523 shares of the technology company's stock worth $6,825,000 after purchasing an additional 19,070 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 392.2% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,535 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,756,000 after purchasing an additional 10,785 shares during the period. Baldwin Wealth Partners LLC MA acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the third quarter valued at $709,000. Finally, Perpetual Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 964.3% during the third quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 153,149 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $31,180,000 after purchasing an additional 138,759 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 300,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.30, for a total value of $60,990,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 181,143,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $36,826,381,658.40. This trade represents a 0.17% 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 the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 767,029 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 4.47% decrease in their position. 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 sold 3,468,906 shares of company stock valued at $706,366,437 in the last quarter. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Arista Networks News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts modestly raised earnings forecasts. Erste Group Bank maintained a “Buy” rating and increased its FY2026 EPS estimate to $3.79 from $3.78 and its FY2027 estimate to $4.74 from $4.73. The revisions reinforce expectations for continued earnings growth, although the changes were small. MarketBeat Arista Networks analyst estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Revenue visibility remains strong. A recent analysis highlighted that Arista raised its revenue outlook for the third time this year and that non-cancellable purchase commitments increased 2.7 times to $9.7 billion in one year. These commitments suggest substantial customer demand, particularly from data-center and AI infrastructure buyers. Arista Networks prospects and earnings analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Arista continues to outperform much of its technology sector. The coverage compares ANET’s year-to-date performance with other computer and technology stocks, highlighting strong momentum but also potentially elevated expectations after its substantial advance. Arista Networks sector performance comparison
• Negative Sentiment: Deferred revenue is prompting cash-flow scrutiny. Arista reported approximately $6.866 billion in deferred revenue. While this reflects cash collected for services or products not yet recognized as revenue, investors are assessing how much of the company’s reported cash strength comes from timing-related collections rather than current-period operations. Arista deferred revenue analysis
• Negative Sentiment: CEO insider selling may weigh on sentiment. Arista’s CEO sold approximately $21.1 million of company stock. Such sales do not necessarily indicate deteriorating fundamentals, but they can pressure a richly valued growth stock and raise caution among investors. Arista Networks CEO insider sale

About Arista Networks

Arista Networks, Inc develops and sells cloud networking solutions for data centers, campus environments and high-performance computing applications. Its products include Ethernet switches, routers, wireless access points and related networking equipment designed to support cloud computing, artificial intelligence, enterprise and service-provider networks.

The company's software portfolio includes Arista EOS, its network operating system, and CloudVision, a platform that helps customers manage, automate and monitor network infrastructure.

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