Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE: ANET) started the week with a bounce after a bruising end to last week—an important setup for investors trying to separate short-term volatility from longer-term AI and cloud networking demand.
As of the latest available market update on December 15, 2025, ANET was trading around $126.42, up roughly 1.33% on the day, with the session ranging from about $123.55 to $127.35. That gain follows Friday’s sharp decline, when ANET fell 7.17% (per Investing.com’s daily historical pricing). [1]
Even after Monday’s rebound, Arista remains well below its 52-week high of $164.94—a reminder that 2025’s “AI infrastructure trade” has not moved in a straight line.
Below is a full, publication-ready roundup of today’s (15.12.2025) news flow, analyst forecasts, and market analysis shaping Arista Networks stock—plus what to watch next.
ANET stock price action: A rebound after Friday’s 7% drop
The biggest “headline” for Arista shareholders on Dec. 15 is simply the shape of the tape:
- Dec. 12 (Friday): ANET closed at $124.76, down 7.17% on elevated volume (about 8.51M shares), after trading as high as $134.05 and as low as $124.30. [2]
- Dec. 15 (Monday): ANET’s daily historical print shows a close/price of $126.61, up 1.49%, with an intraday low near $123.66 and high near $127.33. [3]
Meanwhile, another live market feed pegged ANET near $126.42 with the day’s move at about +1.33%, reflecting normal differences across data providers and update times.
The takeaway: ANET is stabilizing after a fast pullback, but volatility remains very much part of the story.
Why Arista Networks is “trending” today: Zacks spotlights earnings expectations and valuation
One of the most-circulated pieces of analysis dated December 15, 2025 comes from Zacks Equity Research (republished by Finviz), framing Arista as a “trending stock” and walking through the two drivers Zacks tends to emphasize: earnings estimate revisions and valuation. [4]
Key points from the Zacks note:
- Over the past month, Zacks reports ANET shares returned about -5% (versus roughly -0.2% for its Zacks S&P 500 composite measure over the same period). [5]
- For the current quarter, Zacks lists a consensus expectation of $0.75 EPS, about +15.4% versus the year-ago quarter. [6]
- For the current fiscal year, Zacks cites a consensus earnings estimate of $2.88, implying +26.9% year-over-year growth. [7]
- For the next fiscal year, Zacks cites $3.31 in consensus EPS, about +14.8% versus the year before. [8]
- Zacks assigns Arista a Rank #3 (Hold) and flags that the stock is trading at a premium versus peers, giving it a weak valuation grade (“F” in the note). [9]
For investors, this is the crux of the current ANET debate: strong growth expectations vs. premium valuation, especially after a multi-year run in AI- and cloud-exposed infrastructure.
Fresh analyst forecast today: Bank of America reiterates Buy and keeps a $175 price target
The most notable same-day Wall Street call tied to Dec. 15, 2025 is a Bank of America Securities reiteration highlighted by TipRanks’ ratings feed.
TipRanks reports that Tal Liani (BofA Securities) maintained a Buy rating on Arista Networks with a $175.00 price target in a report released today. [10]
Just as important as the target: the reasoning emphasizes the push-and-pull investors are pricing right now:
- Tailwinds: AI networking demand and expansion opportunities beyond core cloud switching, including campus switching. [11]
- Risks: timing of cloud investments and competition. [12]
- Execution framing: the note highlights Arista’s historically conservative guidance approach as a buffer if deployments slip, calling out potential timing issues around customer deployments (including a reference to Oracle data centers). [13]
- Supply/commitments: mention of increased purchase commitments as a sign of confidence in forward demand (with the caveat of component/memory cost variability). [14]
In SEO terms, this is the “headline forecast” of the day: BofA stays bullish at $175, and ties the bull case to AI networking plus enterprise/campus expansion—with cloud timing risk the key watch item.
ANET consensus targets: where “the Street” broadly stands heading into 2026
While BofA’s $175 target is one data point, several widely used consensus pages cluster in the mid-$160s, suggesting meaningful upside if growth expectations hold.
- MarketBeat: consensus rating “Moderate Buy,” with 18 Buy ratings and 5 Holds, and an average price target around $164.31. [15]
- StockAnalysis.com: consensus rating “Strong Buy” with an average price target of about $163.8, with a reported target range from $112 (low) to $185 (high). [16]
Important context for readers: price targets are forecasts, not promises—and in high-momentum infrastructure names, targets often shift quickly based on macro risk appetite and hyperscaler spending signals.
Today’s “news” flow: Institutional filings highlight both trimming and accumulation
A big portion of Arista’s Dec. 15 headline volume comes from institutional ownership updates—the kind of news that doesn’t change the business overnight but can influence sentiment because ANET is widely held by large funds.
Texas Permanent School Fund trims stake (Q2 filing)
A MarketBeat filing update dated December 15, 2025 reports that Texas Permanent School Fund Corp reduced its ANET stake by 21.1% in the second quarter, selling 37,248 shares and holding 139,128 shares valued around $14.23 million at the time of the filing snapshot. [17]
The same MarketBeat piece also highlights the broader ownership picture:
- Large institutions adding exposure (including a noted new position by Norges Bank valued at roughly $1.23 billion, plus increases by firms such as AQR, Nordea, and Amundi), and institutional ownership around 82.47%. [18]
Thrivent boosts holdings sharply (Q2 filing)
Another MarketBeat update dated December 15, 2025 says Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings by 77.2% during the second quarter, ending the period with 548,356 shares valued around $55.9 million. [19]
Insider selling remains a headline risk for some investors
The Texas Permanent School Fund update also points to notable insider selling activity, stating insiders sold 274,464 shares worth roughly $38.25 million over the last 90 days, leaving insider ownership around 3.54%. [20]
How to interpret this:
- 13F-based stories are inherently backward-looking (often by months).
- But heavy institutional ownership means that fund flows can amplify moves, especially during broader tech rotations.
Fundamental backdrop: Arista’s latest quarter and guidance still define the bull/bear framework
Even when day-to-day headlines revolve around targets and filings, Arista’s fundamentals are the anchor for any serious ANET stock analysis.
In its Q3 2025 financial results, Arista reported:
- Revenue:$2.308 billion, up 27.5% year-over-year. [21]
- GAAP gross margin:64.6%; Non-GAAP gross margin:65.2%. [22]
- EPS (split-adjusted): GAAP diluted net income per share of $0.67 and Non-GAAP diluted net income per share of $0.75 for the quarter. [23]
- The company notes prior period results were adjusted to reflect a four-for-one stock split effected in December 2024. [24]
Q4 2025 outlook (company guidance)
For Q4 2025, Arista guided:
- Revenue:$2.3–$2.4 billion
- Non-GAAP gross margin:62–63%
- Non-GAAP operating margin:47–48% [25]
That margin guide matters: even bullish analysts can get cautious when they see margin pressure risk—especially for a stock that trades at a premium multiple.
Product and demand catalysts: AI networking, campus expansion, and higher-speed platforms
“AI infrastructure” is not a monolith, and Arista’s strategy heading into 2026 spans both hyperscale data centers and enterprise/campus networking.
Campus networking and AI ops tools
A Business Wire announcement (distributed via FT Markets) dated Dec. 10, 2025 said Arista introduced major Cognitive Campus advancements including Arista VESPA for WLAN mobility and enhanced Ask AVA capabilities for more advanced conversational troubleshooting and root cause analysis. [26]
This matters for ANET stock because it supports the investment narrative that Arista is broadening beyond a handful of mega cloud customers toward enterprise and campus domains.
High-speed data center and AI infrastructure roadmap
Arista has also been pushing into next-generation high-speed networking designed for AI clusters. A recent industry report describes Arista’s newer R4 Series platforms for AI/data center infrastructure, emphasizing dense 800G capabilities and design choices aimed at performance and efficiency in AI networking environments. [27]
Technical analysis snapshot for Dec. 15: indicators lean cautious after the selloff
Technicals are never the whole story for a fundamentals-driven name like Arista—but after a sudden drop like Friday’s, many investors check momentum gauges.
On Investing.com’s daily technical summary for ANET:
- The overall daily signal is listed as “Strong Sell.” [28]
- The page cites a 14-day RSI around 42.891 (described there as a “Sell” signal). [29]
- It also reports that moving averages from short to long term skew bearish in their framework (more sell than buy signals). [30]
Whether you believe in these tools or not, the market reality is that ANET’s recent downdraft shifted technical posture from “momentum leader” to “repair mode.”
What to watch next: earnings timing and the 2026 narrative
Next earnings window
Earnings calendar estimates vary by provider, but MarketBeat currently estimates Arista’s next earnings date around Tuesday, February 17, 2026, based on past reporting schedules (not a confirmed company announcement). [31]
The 2026 catalysts investors are tracking right now
Based on today’s research notes and the recurring themes across recent coverage, the “next phase” for ANET stock will likely hinge on:
- Hyperscaler AI and cloud capex timing (a key risk explicitly highlighted in today’s BofA framing). [32]
- Enterprise/campus traction, including adoption of Arista’s campus mobility and AI-assisted operations features. [33]
- Margins vs. growth—with investors watching whether scaling AI networking and campus expansion can sustain high profitability while revenue grows. [34]
Bottom line for Arista Networks stock on Dec. 15, 2025
Arista Networks stock is ending 2025 in a familiar tension point:
- Long-term thesis still intact (AI networking demand + portfolio expansion), reinforced today by BofA’s reiterated Buy and $175 target. [35]
- Near-term price action is choppy, with the stock bouncing today after a steep Friday decline. [36]
- Consensus forecasts remain constructive (mid-$160s averages across major trackers), but the debate is increasingly about valuation and timing. [37]
- Institutional ownership is high, and today’s filing-driven headlines show both trimming and accumulation—useful context, but not a real-time vote. [38]
References
1. www.investing.com, 2. www.investing.com, 3. www.investing.com, 4. finviz.com, 5. finviz.com, 6. finviz.com, 7. finviz.com, 8. finviz.com, 9. finviz.com, 10. www.tipranks.com, 11. www.tipranks.com, 12. www.tipranks.com, 13. www.tipranks.com, 14. www.tipranks.com, 15. www.marketbeat.com, 16. stockanalysis.com, 17. www.marketbeat.com, 18. www.marketbeat.com, 19. www.marketbeat.com, 20. www.marketbeat.com, 21. investors.arista.com, 22. investors.arista.com, 23. investors.arista.com, 24. investors.arista.com, 25. investors.arista.com, 26. markets.ft.com, 27. www.thefastmode.com, 28. www.investing.com, 29. www.investing.com, 30. www.investing.com, 31. www.marketbeat.com, 32. www.tipranks.com, 33. markets.ft.com, 34. investors.arista.com, 35. www.tipranks.com, 36. www.investing.com, 37. www.marketbeat.com, 38. www.marketbeat.com
