Shares of Arista Networks Inc (NYSE:ANET) rallied in early trading on Friday, after the company reported upbeat fourth-quarter results.
Here are the key analyst insights:
- JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee maintained an Overweight rating, while raising the price target from $175 to $190.
- KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Brandon Nispel reiterated an Overweight rating, while lifting the price target from $170 to $178.
- Needham analyst Ryan Koontz reaffirmed a Buy rating, while raising the price target from $165 to $185.
- Rosenblatt Securities analyst Mike Genovese maintained a Neutral rating and price target of $165.
Check out other analyst stock ratings.
JPMorgan: Arista Networks reported revenue of $2,488 million, gross margins of 63.4% and earnings of 82 cents per share, topping consensus estimates of $2,386 million, 62.5%, and 75 cents per share, respectively, Chatterjee said in a note. The company raised its full-year revenue growth guidance to 25%, from its prior outlook of 20%, reflecting “the momentum in its leverage to the AI investment cycle,” he added.
The guidance raise was earlier in the year than “the typical timing of raises in its history, highlighting higher-than-typical confidence in demand and deployments,” the analyst wrote. Arista Networks has the opportunity to accelerate its revenue growth to 35% in 2026, “helping re-establish investor preference for Arista as a technology leader with strong leverage to the AI investment cycle,” he further stated.
KeyBanc Capital Markets: Arista Networks generated 29% revenue growth and gross margins of 63.4%, both exceeding expectations, Nispel said. Free cash flows came in at $1.23 billion, significantly topping consensus of $659 million, he added.
Cloud Titans contributed 48% of revenue in the fourth quarter, the analyst stated. Management guided to first quarter revenues of $2.6 billion, representing 29.7% year-on-year growth, versus consensus of 22.3%, he further noted.
Needham: Arista Networks delivered a strong quarter and raised its full-year guidance, Koontz said. Total deferred revenue grew 92% year-on-year to reached $5.37 billion, while short-term deferred revenue grew 132% to $4.0 billion, he added.
Management indiated that three customer AI programs had surpassed 100K GPU deployments, while the fourth customer plans to shift in 2026 and is likely Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT), the analyst stated. Arista Networks raised its 2026 revenue growth guidance to 25% growth and non-GAAP gross margins to 46%, he further noted.
Rosenblatt Securities: Arista Networks reported its revenue and earnings 6% and 11% higher than Rosenblatt’s estimates, while guiding to 9% and 10% upside in the first quarter, Genovese said. Deferred revenues grew around $700 million sequentially, with about $500 million of the increase from Product, he added.
“Finally, there were no nasty margin surprises related to memory since the company got in front of this issue in prior quarters,” the analyst wrote. Management said it could have two new 10% customers in 2026, apart from Microsoft and Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META), which could be Oracle Corp (NYSE:ORCL) and Alphabet Inc’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Google, he further stated.
ANET Price Action: Shares of Arista Networks had risen by 5.15% to $142.08 at the time of publication on Friday.
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