Updated December 7, 2025
Arista Networks (NYSE: ANET) has cooled off after a powerful multi‑year run, but Wall Street still expects sizable upside as the AI data‑center build‑out continues.
After a recent correction, ANET is trading around $129 per share, roughly 22% below its 52‑week high near $165, but still more than double its 52‑week low around $59. [1] Most analysts covering the stock still rate it a “Strong Buy”, with 12‑month price targets clustered in the mid‑$160s to low‑$170s, implying roughly 27–30% upside from current levels. [2]
Below is a deep dive into the latest ANET stock news, forecasts and analysis as of December 7, 2025.
Key takeaways on ANET stock right now
- Stock price & valuation: ANET trades near $129 with a market cap around $180+ billion and a trailing P/E near 50x, well above sector averages. [3]
- Recent pullback: Shares are down about 16% over the past month, but Arista’s five‑year total return exceeds 600%, according to recent valuation work from Simply Wall St. [4]
- Fundamentals: Q3 2025 revenue grew ~27.5% year‑over‑year to about $2.31 billion, with earnings per share again beating Wall Street estimates. [5]
- Guidance: Management expects Q4 2025 revenue of $2.3–2.4 billion and healthy non‑GAAP margins, backing a mid‑teens growth outlook into 2026. [6]
- Analyst sentiment: Around 40 analysts tracked by various platforms show a bullish consensus with a median price target near $167.50, and no “Sell” ratings. [7]
- Main story: Investors are wrestling with a familiar tension — premium valuation versus Arista’s central role in AI data‑center networking and expanding enterprise business.
ANET stock today: price, pullback and valuation
As of the latest close, Arista Networks shares trade around $128–$129, with an intraday range in recent sessions from roughly $127 to $130. [8]
Recent performance metrics from analyst aggregators show: [9]
- 1‑month change: about –4–16% depending on the exact look‑back date.
- 1‑year change: high‑teens to low‑30s percentage gain.
- From 52‑week low (~$59): up well over 100%.
- From 52‑week high (~$165): down about 22%.
A December 5 valuation note by Simply Wall St highlights that the recent ~16% one‑month pullback looks more like a pause within a strong, multi‑year uptrend — Arista’s 5‑year total shareholder return is above 600%. Yet the same analysis stresses that ANET’s P/E ratio in the high 40s is well above both the broader U.S. communications sector and peer averages, underscoring limited room for disappointment if growth slows. [10]
From MarketBeat’s earnings data, Arista’s trailing EPS is about $2.63, implying a trailing P/E of roughly 49x at current prices, with a forward P/E above 50x depending on the earnings estimate set used. [11]
Bottom line on valuation: ANET is not cheap by conventional metrics; the bull case is all about strong, durable growth in AI and cloud networking plus an increasingly diversified enterprise portfolio.
Q3 2025 earnings: another beat and higher guidance
Arista’s most recent quarter — Q3 2025, reported on November 4 — was strong across most key metrics. [12]
Headline numbers (Q3 2025):
- Revenue: about $2.31 billion, up ~4.7% quarter‑over‑quarter and ~27.5% year‑over‑year, beating consensus expectations around $2.26 billion. [13]
- Non‑GAAP EPS:$0.75, beating the Street’s $0.72 estimate. [14]
- Non‑GAAP gross margin: roughly 65%, still extremely high for networking hardware. [15]
- Non‑GAAP operating margin: near the high‑40% range, reflecting disciplined cost control. [16]
CEO Jayshree Ullal highlighted Arista’s “centers of data” strategy as a key driver of demand across AI, data‑center, campus and routing environments, describing the company as well‑positioned as a strategic networking provider rather than a commodity switch vendor. [17]
Guidance for Q4 2025 underscored management’s confidence: [18]
- Revenue:$2.3–$2.4 billion
- Non‑GAAP gross margin:62–63%
- Non‑GAAP operating margin:47–48%
MarketBeat currently estimates Arista’s next earnings release for Q4 2025 will fall around February 17, 2026 (after market close), based on its historical reporting pattern. [19]
The latest Wall Street view: price targets, ratings and estimate revisions
Consensus ratings and price targets
Across multiple analyst aggregators, the message is broadly consistent: Wall Street still likes ANET.
- StockAnalysis: 15 covering analysts rate ANET a “Strong Buy”, with an average 12‑month price target of $163.8 (range: $112–$185), implying about 27% upside. [20]
- TickerNerd / WallStreetZen: Across roughly 40 analysts, the median price target sits at $167.50 with a range from $140 to $185, implying about 30% upside from the current ~$129 share price. Ratings skew heavily toward Buy/Overweight, with no Sell ratings reported. [21]
- Benzinga’s compilation of targets (which includes some longer‑dated forecasts) notes an even higher average price target near $212, with the most optimistic target at $432 and the most conservative at $112, reflecting a very wide distribution of long‑term views. [22]
Several large banks have reiterated or raised their targets in recent months, often explicitly citing AI data‑center demand as the key driver. For example, Goldman Sachs maintained a $175 price target in September on expectations of strong AI‑related growth. [23]
Fresh UBS note: confident FY26 outlook
The most recent high‑profile update comes from UBS, whose analyst David Vogt on December 3 reiterated a Buy rating and $155 price target on ANET. [24]
Key points from the UBS commentary: [25]
- Arista has already articulated a 20% growth goal for FY26, earlier than it typically gives such long‑range goals, which UBS reads as a sign of management confidence.
- The firm highlights Arista’s campus networking revenue targets — $800 million in FY25 and $1.25 billion in FY26 — as evidence of meaningful progress outside hyperscale cloud data centers.
- Arista expects to exit 2025 with about $1.5 billion in combined front‑end/back‑end AI operations revenue, targeting roughly $2.75 billion in 2026.
- UBS does not see major near‑term risk in the company’s guidance, but notes that supply remains tight enough that Arista has increased purchase commitments to secure components.
Rising earnings estimates
A December 4 piece from Zacks (via Nasdaq) notes that earnings estimates for ANET have moved materially higher over the past year: [26]
- 2025 EPS estimate: up about 17.8% to $2.84
- 2026 EPS estimate: up about 16.4% to $3.27
MarketBeat’s summary similarly shows analysts looking for earnings growth of roughly 17% next year, with EPS expected to climb from around $2.20 to $2.58, and highlights strong historical earnings beats: Arista has topped consensus EPS estimates in every quarter listed back to early 2024. [27]
In other words, the Street is not just bullish on the story — the numbers are drifting higher too.
How Arista’s business ties into the AI networking boom
Arista’s appeal in the current market goes beyond generic “cloud exposure.” The company has carved out a defensible position at the intersection of high‑performance Ethernet switching and software‑defined networking — both critical for the next generation of AI infrastructure.
Core business and technology
According to its own investor materials and multiple independent analyses, Arista: [28]
- Designs and sells high‑speed Ethernet switches and routers used in cloud data centers, AI clusters, large campuses and carrier‑class routing.
- Is a market leader in 100‑gigabit Ethernet and has growing traction in 200‑ and 400‑gigabit products, with a roadmap toward 800G and, eventually, 1.6T speeds.
- Runs its entire portfolio on a single network operating system, EOS (Extensible Operating System), managed by the CloudVision platform, giving customers a unified, highly programmable software stack.
- Emphasizes merchant silicon (off‑the‑shelf chips from partners such as Broadcom) combined with its own software, rather than proprietary ASICs, to accelerate time‑to‑market.
A recent Benzinga analysis frames the bull case around Arista’s role as a critical supplier to hyperscale “Cloud Titans”, which are pouring billions into AI training clusters — and increasingly prefer open, Ethernet‑based fabrics over proprietary technologies. [29]
New AI‑centric offerings
Arista has been aggressively positioning itself as a full‑stack AI networking platform, not just a box vendor. Its Q3 press release and recent announcements highlight: [30]
- “Next Generation Data and AI Centers” solutions designed specifically for large‑scale AI clusters.
- AI agents for network operations, which leverage telemetry from EOS and its NetDL data layer to automate tasks like troubleshooting and policy enforcement.
- An observability blueprint for AI workloads, via CloudVision AI, offering end‑to‑end visibility from the physical network through to job‑level performance.
- Industry collaboration on Ethernet for Scale‑Up Networks (ESUN), an Open Compute Project initiative to standardize Ethernet‑based scale‑up architectures for AI and high‑performance computing.
This AI‑centric messaging supports why several analysts — from Goldman Sachs to UBS and various independent research shops — describe Arista as a “networking backbone” of the AI build‑out, not just a cyclical IT vendor. [31]
Is ANET stock undervalued or overvalued after the pullback?
Valuation is where opinions diverge.
The “still undervalued” camp
Simply Wall St’s December 5 analysis models a fair value around $164 per share, versus a recent close near $128.55, implying the stock is roughly 20–25% undervalued based on its AI‑driven growth narrative. [32]
Freedom24 similarly characterizes Arista as a key provider of data‑center and AI networking solutions, estimating upside of around 28.8% from current prices. [33]
Independent fundamental models from platforms such as TIKR and others suggest that ANET could reasonably trade in the mid‑$170s by 2027, implying high‑teens annualized returns if execution matches current expectations. [34]
The “expensive but justified” view
Even bullish analysts acknowledge that ANET trades at a premium multiple:
- Simply Wall St notes Arista’s P/E multiple near the high‑40s is significantly above the U.S. communications sector average in the low‑30s and above peer valuations. [35]
- MarketBeat and Benzinga show similar trailing P/E levels, plus a PEG (price‑earnings‑to‑growth) ratio above 2, which is not cheap by growth stock standards. [36]
The argument from this camp is essentially: the stock looks expensive, but maybe it deserves to be, given:
- High‑60s gross margins (on a non‑GAAP basis). [37]
- A multi‑year AI and cloud tailwind.
- Early but meaningful traction in enterprise and campus networking, which could smooth out hyperscale cyclicality. [38]
The skeptics’ concerns
On the other side, more cautious voices (including some European banks and valuation‑focused research) flag three main issues: [39]
- Premium valuation: With ANET trading at a high multiple relative to historical levels and peers, any hint of slowing growth or margin pressure could produce an outsized share‑price reaction.
- Customer concentration: A large portion of Arista’s revenue comes from a small set of hyperscale customers. Shifts in their capex plans, inventory digestion or a pause in AI cluster roll‑outs could materially affect Arista’s numbers.
- Macro and AI‑cycle risk: Broader market strategists at firms like Bank of America have warned about a potential “AI air pocket” for equities in 2026 — a period where AI enthusiasm cools before monetization catches up, which could pressure high‑multiple names like ANET even if fundamentals remain solid. [40]
Recent insider activity: director sale and what it means
On December 1, 2025, Arista director Charles H. Giancarlo sold 8,000 shares of ANET, totaling roughly $1.02 million at prices between about $126.93 and $128.58, under a pre‑arranged Rule 10b5‑1 trading plan established earlier in the year. [41]
According to the same filing summary: [42]
- The sales were executed through a family trust.
- Giancarlo still indirectly owns 25,784 shares through the trust and directly owns more than 220,000 shares of Arista.
The article also reiterates that Arista has:
- Delivered ~27–28% revenue growth over the past 12 months.
- Seen growth moderate modestly from ~30% YoY in Q2 to 27.5% in Q3, with guidance suggesting around 22% growth in Q4. [43]
Analyst reactions around this time have been mixed but mostly constructive:
- Piper Sandler raised its price target to $145 while keeping a Neutral rating.
- Rosenblatt reiterated a Neutral rating with a $140 target.
- Erste Group downgraded ANET from Buy to Hold on valuation concerns.
- UBS reiterated its Buy and $155 target, emphasizing Arista’s medium‑term growth outlook. [44]
Insider sales under 10b5‑1 plans are common in fast‑growing tech names and do not automatically signal trouble, but the timing — after a big run and before a still‑premium valuation is fully tested — reinforces the idea that expectations are already high.
Balance sheet and financial strength
Even skeptics generally agree that Arista’s financial position is robust. A recent Yahoo Finance summary (also cited by other outlets) notes that as of September 30, 2025, Arista held about $2.33 billion in cash and cash equivalents against roughly $310 million in other long‑term liabilities, leaving the company in a net cash position. [45]
MarketBeat’s data pegs Arista’s annual revenue around $8.45 billion and net income about $2.85 billion over the most recently reported trailing 12‑month period, with earnings expected to grow in the mid‑teens next year. [46]
Combined with high margins, that balance sheet gives management plenty of room to:
- Invest aggressively in new AI and cloud networking products.
- Absorb potential tariff or supply‑chain impacts, which Benzinga notes could represent about a 1–1.5 percentage‑point headwind to gross margins in worst‑case scenarios. [47]
ANET stock outlook for 2026 and beyond
Putting everything together, how does the ANET story look from December 7, 2025?
What needs to go right for the bull case
For ANET to grow into — or beyond — current valuations, several things likely need to happen: [48]
- AI capex stays strong: Hyperscale cloud providers must continue investing heavily in AI training and inference clusters, and Ethernet must keep gaining share as the preferred fabric.
- Enterprise and campus adoption scales: Arista’s push into enterprise and campus switching must deliver on its promise of multi‑billion‑dollar incremental revenue, reducing reliance on a handful of “Cloud Titan” customers.
- Margins stay high: Arista must maintain sector‑leading gross and operating margins despite tariffs, supply‑chain challenges and intensifying competition from players like Cisco and NVIDIA in AI networking.
- Execution remains flawless: With such a premium multiple, the market is pricing in continued beats and raises, not just “meeting guidance.”
If this script plays out, consensus targets in the $160–$180 range over the next 12–24 months, and bullish long‑term projections toward $176–$200+ by 2027–2030, look achievable on paper. [49]
What could go wrong
On the risk side, investors need to be comfortable with: [50]
- Cycle risk in AI and cloud: If hyperscalers slow AI spending — or simply digest existing capacity — order growth could decelerate sharply.
- Macro risk: A broader equity pullback, especially in expensive growth and AI‑themed names, could compress Arista’s multiple even if fundamentals hold up.
- Competitive risk: Legacy networking giants and chip makers are pushing aggressively into AI networking. If proprietary solutions regain favor, Arista’s Ethernet‑centric thesis could face pressure.
- Policy and trade risk: Reciprocal tariffs or export‑control changes could hit margins or complicate supply chains.
Final word: how the market is framing ANET stock now
As of early December 2025, the market narrative around ANET stock is relatively clear:
- Bulls see Arista as a core AI infrastructure winner with best‑in‑class margins, a powerful software stack and a long runway in both cloud and enterprise networking.
- Bears and skeptics worry that too much good news is already priced in, pointing to a high‑40s P/E multiple, customer concentration and the possibility of an AI spending slowdown or general multiple compression.
Consensus data, earnings revisions and the latest UBS note all suggest that professional analysts still lean firmly toward the bullish side, expecting mid‑teens earnings growth and high‑20s percentage upside in the share price over the next year if execution continues. [51]
For investors, the ANET story in late 2025 is less about discovering an overlooked gem and more about deciding whether the premium price is worth paying for a leading position in AI networking.
References
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