FY2027 EPS Forecast for Arista Networks Increased by Analyst

Key Points

• Erste Group Bank raised Arista Networks’ FY2027 EPS forecast to $4.79 from $4.74 and maintained a “Buy” rating. Analysts overall remain bullish, with a consensus “Buy” rating and $233.20 price target.
• Arista’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with EPS of $1.02 versus the $0.89 consensus and revenue of $3.04 billion versus $2.83 billion expected. Revenue increased 37.7% year over year, supported by continued cloud and AI infrastructure demand.
• The stock opened at $170.57 after declining 7.5%, while insiders sold more than $741 million of shares over the past three months. Institutional investors still hold a substantial 82.47% of the company.

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET - Free Report) - Investment analysts at Erste Group Bank increased their FY2027 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Arista Networks in a research note issued on Wednesday, October 21st. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now anticipates that the technology company will post earnings of $4.79 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $4.74. Erste Group Bank currently has a "Buy" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Arista Networks' current full-year earnings is $3.79 per share.

ANET has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $255.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Arista Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $289.00 price target (up from $195.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $240.00 price objective (up from $181.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $260.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $233.20.

Arista Networks Trading Down 7.5%

Arista Networks stock opened at $170.57 on Friday. Arista Networks has a 1 year low of $114.52 and a 1 year high of $217.41. The company has a market cap of $215.13 billion, a PE ratio of 53.81, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.60. The company's 50-day moving average is $196.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.29.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ANET. ABS Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Arista Networks in the second quarter worth $29,000. ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC bought a new position in shares of Arista Networks during the second quarter worth $29,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Arista Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Albion Financial Group UT grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 80.0% in the 3rd quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 180 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Financial Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 61.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC now owns 183 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 767,029 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, major shareholder Andreas Bechtolsheim sold 300,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 181,143,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,826,381,658.40. This trade represents a 0.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 3,627,449 shares of company stock worth $741,235,386 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Arista Networks

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

• Positive Sentiment: Arista remains well positioned for long-term growth in AI data centers and cloud computing because its high-speed networking equipment is essential to expanding infrastructure. Analysts also highlight its strong net margins and exposure to major AI customers. Adobe vs. Arista Networks: Which Tech Stock Is a Better Buy in 2026? 4 Cloud Computing Stocks to Bet on for Solid Long-Term Gains
• Positive Sentiment: Broker recommendations remain broadly favorable, with Arista identified as a potential beneficiary of accelerating cloud demand and AI-related capital spending. However, the reliability of consensus ratings is questioned because sell-side analysts can be overly optimistic. Arista Networks Is Considered a Good Investment by Brokers
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent comparisons with Adobe, CrowdStrike and Datadog portray Arista as a high-quality technology company with strong profitability and AI exposure, but they are opinion-based rather than new company-specific developments. Arista Networks vs. CrowdStrike
• Negative Sentiment: TD Cowen cut its price target for Arista, adding pressure to investor sentiment and suggesting more limited near-term upside. Arista Networks Stock Gets Price Target Cut from TD Cowen
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concerns were amplified by an analysis arguing that Arista has limited pricing power and lacks a durable business model, raising questions about competitive differentiation and long-term margins. Arista Networks: No Pricing Power And No Durable Business Model
• Negative Sentiment: Insider Kenneth Duda sold 43,333 shares worth approximately $7.84 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Although scheduled sales do not necessarily signal deteriorating fundamentals, the transactions may weigh on sentiment.

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.

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