Arista Networks Stock (ANET) News Today: Fortinet AI Data Center Partnership, Morgan Stanley Target Cut, and Wall Street’s 2026 Forecasts

December 17, 2025 — Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE: ANET) is back in focus for investors on Wednesday as a mix of AI-infrastructure headlines, analyst updates, and technical commentary reshapes the near-term narrative around one of the market’s most closely watched data-center networking names.

ANET shares were trading around $122 late Wednesday, down roughly 3% on the session, with the day’s range stretching from the low $121s to the high $127s.

Below is what’s driving today’s coverage, what analysts are forecasting into 2026, and why Arista’s fundamentals—especially its AI networking ambitions—remain central to the bull-and-bear debate.

ANET stock price today: what the market is signaling on Dec. 17

Arista Networks stock was last quoted at $122.26 on Dec. 17, down $3.87 (about -3.1%) from the previous close. The stock opened near $125.94, hit an intraday high of $127.68, and touched an intraday low of $121.71.

At that price, Arista’s market capitalization stood near $183.1 billion, with a trailing P/E ratio shown around 54.6 on the same data feed.

The takeaway from the tape is less about one day’s move and more about what investors are wrestling with as 2025 closes: AI networking demand appears durable, but expectations and valuation discipline are tightening.

What’s making headlines for Arista Networks on Dec. 17

1) Fortinet and Arista announce a “secure AI data center” joint solution

One of the most notable developments dated Dec. 17, 2025 is a new partnership announcement from Fortinet that explicitly positions Arista inside a broader “secure AI data center” reference architecture.

Fortinet said it is launching a Fortinet Secure AI Data Center solution built in close collaboration with Arista Networks, and noted the solution is deployed at Monolithic Power Systems (MPS). Fortinet describes the combined approach as a validated, scalable, zero-trust architecture intended to bring security and performance together “from day one.” ^[1]

From an Arista investor perspective, this kind of announcement matters for two reasons:

It reinforces Arista’s role as a core supplier of ultra-low-latency networking for AI clusters (the “picks-and-shovels” layer beneath training and inference).
It supports a market theme that’s been gaining traction: networking + security convergence as AI workloads raise the cost of downtime, congestion, and cyber risk. ^[2]

Fortinet also highlighted operational claims such as faster deployments via automation and performance improvements tied to security offload—details that, while Fortinet-centric, help explain why the industry is emphasizing integrated blueprints instead of one-off point products. ^[3]

2) Morgan Stanley lowers Arista’s price target, keeps Overweight

On the analyst front, Morgan Stanley cut its price target to $159 from $171 while maintaining an Overweight rating, according to a report recap distributed by TheFly/TipRanks. ^[4]

The note frames 2025 as a year when the “AI trade” broadened beyond semiconductors into infrastructure—particularly optical—and suggests the trend can continue into the first half of 2026. But it also adds a caution that investors may need to be more selective because of multiples. ^[5]

That combination—bullish rating, lower target, valuation sensitivity—is increasingly common for high-quality AI beneficiaries as the market shifts from “own anything AI” toward “own the names where fundamentals can still beat elevated expectations.”

3) Zacks puts Arista in the “AI picks-and-shovels” bucket for 2026

Also dated Dec. 17, a Zacks commentary syndicated on Nasdaq highlighted Arista Networks alongside First Solar, Microsoft, and Meta in a 2026-themed investment note. ^[6]

Zacks’ argument is that AI-driven earnings growth plus a potentially easier rate backdrop could support equities into 2026, and it emphasizes the scale of AI-related capital spending—citing $400 billion of 2025 capex by major AI hyperscalers (Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta) and a broader multi-year data-center buildout. ^[7]

Within that framing, Zacks characterizes Arista as infrastructure “plumbing” for AI data centers and points to the company’s relationships with hyperscalers such as Meta and Microsoft, as well as a strong balance sheet (including substantial cash). ^[8]

Even readers who don’t follow Zacks recommendations closely should note what this reflects: the market’s core Arista thesis is still tied to AI and cloud capex, not just enterprise switching cycles.

4) Technical analysis: “short-term recovery curtailed,” but key levels are holding

A technical analysis note published today described ANET as testing a 38.2% Fibonacci level during the latest pullback, while observing that the RSI bounced without entering oversold territory—suggesting momentum cooled but didn’t “break.” ^[9]

The same analysis reiterated that Arista’s fundamental growth story remains strong, pointing back to the company’s Q3 FY2025 results and ongoing data-center networking relevance. ^[10]

For investors, technical commentary is not a substitute for fundamentals—but it does help explain why ANET often trades like a sentiment barometer for AI infrastructure and hyperscaler capex expectations.

Arista Networks fundamentals: the numbers investors keep coming back to

While today’s headlines are about partnerships and price targets, the foundation of the ANET debate is still Arista’s execution and guidance.

Q3 2025: Arista beat on revenue and EPS

In its Q3 2025 report (released Nov. 4), Arista posted:

Revenue of $2.308 billion, up 27.5% year-over-year
Non-GAAP EPS of $0.75
Non-GAAP gross margin of 65.2%
GAAP net income of $853.0 million (or $0.67 per diluted share) ^[11]

Arista’s CEO also emphasized the company’s “centers of data” strategy and positioning across campus, cloud/data, and AI centers. ^[12]

Q4 2025 outlook: revenue guide holds, margins step down

For Q4 2025, Arista guided to:

Revenue: $2.3–$2.4 billion
Non-GAAP gross margin: 62–63%
Non-GAAP operating margin: 47–48% ^[13]

That margin step-down is important. Arista has historically been a margin standout in networking, so when margins move lower—even for explainable reasons like product transitions or mix—investors tend to ask whether it’s temporary or structural. (Arista’s materials also note that new product introduction costs can affect margins.) ^[14]

Balance sheet: cash remains a strategic advantage

Arista’s presentation materials show cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities around $10.1 billion (as of Q3 2025), underscoring financial flexibility. ^[15]

In a market where customers demand rapid innovation cycles (400G/800G, AI back-end networking, observability, automation), that cash cushion supports R&D intensity and supply-chain resilience—even when spending cycles get choppy.

Arista’s AI ambitions: what the company is targeting into 2026

Arista has been unusually explicit about growth targets tied to AI networking.

In its Q3 highlight deck, Arista shows:

A ~$8.87B revenue goal in 2025 (with implied ~26–27% YoY annual growth) ^[16]
A 2026 framework calling for ~20% YoY revenue growth, plus an “AI Center” target of $2.75B (with “back end and front end converging” and very high YoY growth implied for the AI portion). ^[17]

This matters because it gives investors a clean scoreboard: if AI center revenue ramps anywhere close to that scale, Arista’s multiple can be defended; if it slips, the stock tends to re-rate quickly.

Wall Street forecasts for ANET stock: consensus targets vs. the “valuation” question

The consensus view (as tracked by MarketBeat)

According to MarketBeat’s aggregation, Arista is rated “Moderate Buy” based on 23 analysts, with 17 Buys and 6 Holds. The average 12-month price target is $163.56, with a high of $185 and a low of $112—implying roughly 33% upside from the price level shown on that page. ^[18]

That spread—$112 to $185—captures the market’s central disagreement:

The bull case assumes continued AI capex strength, Arista share gains in high-speed switching, and upside from “beat-and-raise” execution.
The bear case focuses on premium valuation, customer concentration risk (hyperscalers), and the possibility that “AI networking” becomes more competitive or more commoditized than investors expect.

Recent analyst positioning: supportive, but more cautious

Morgan Stanley’s move today fits that “supportive but selective” posture: the firm maintained Overweight but trimmed its target and highlighted multiple sensitivity. ^[19]

Separately, Evercore ISI recently reiterated Outperform with a $175 target but removed ANET from its “Tactical Outperform” list, attributing the post-earnings stock reaction to forward estimates not moving up materially—even while remaining constructive on networking growth and Arista’s positioning. ^[20]

And William Blair reiterated an Outperform rating this week, describing the pullback as potentially attractive heading into 2026 and pointing to product deferred balance exceeding $2.5B as a potential indicator of growth visibility. ^[21]

The bull case for Arista Networks stock in 2026

Here’s what the most constructive ANET narratives generally hinge on—grounded in today’s reporting and recent company disclosures:

AI data centers remain networking-intensive. Training and inference clusters are increasingly constrained by latency, bandwidth, and congestion management—areas where Arista’s ultra-low-latency switching and software stack are designed to compete. ^[22]
Ecosystem validation is increasing. The Fortinet partnership announcement highlights Arista’s presence in multi-vendor reference designs aimed at scaling AI securely—an area enterprises may prioritize as AI moves from pilots to production. ^[23]
Targets are specific. Arista’s own materials point to measurable AI-center and growth goals into 2026, giving investors an objective way to evaluate progress. ^[24]
Balance sheet strength. Cash near $10B provides strategic flexibility for R&D, supply chain, and potential M&A. ^[25]

The bear case: what could derail the ANET story

Even in optimistic consensus forecasts, investors are paying attention to risks that can change the valuation math quickly:

Valuation and multiple compression. When a stock trades at a premium, it can fall even on “good” news if the market was positioned for “great” news—something repeatedly cited in post-earnings reactions across high-growth AI beneficiaries. (Analysts have explicitly flagged selectivity and multiples.) ^[26]
Guidance not moving up fast enough. Evercore’s tactical-list removal commentary captures the fear that AI demand may be strong but already “known,” limiting near-term estimate revisions. ^[27]
Competitive intensity. High-speed networking for AI clusters is strategically important, attracting deep-pocketed competition and alternative architectures.
Margin volatility during product transitions. Arista’s Q4 gross margin guidance is notably below Q3 levels, which can fuel debates about mix, pricing, and competitive pressure even if it proves temporary. ^[28]

What to watch next: near-term catalysts for Arista Networks stock

As the market heads toward 2026, the next ANET catalysts investors typically monitor include:

Q4 2025 earnings and full-year framing (especially any update on 2026 growth assumptions) ^[29]
Signals on AI back-end networking demand (cluster scaling, higher-speed Ethernet adoption, and AI observability/operations tooling) ^[30]
Partnership traction in secure AI data center architectures (like Fortinet + Arista) that could reduce friction for enterprise AI rollouts ^[31]
Analyst price-target revisions and whether the consensus target holds up as estimates update (currently clustered around a Moderate Buy consensus with a mid-$160s average target in one aggregation) ^[32]
Technical levels and sentiment if volatility persists (some technical commentary suggests key retracement levels are being tested) ^[33]

Bottom line

On Dec. 17, 2025, Arista Networks stock is being pulled between two forces: continued validation of its role in AI infrastructure (including new ecosystem headlines like Fortinet’s secure AI data center collaboration) and a market that is getting more valuation-conscious (seen in Morgan Stanley’s reduced target alongside an unchanged Overweight rating). ^[34]

With Arista guiding Q4 revenue to $2.3–$2.4B and mapping out ambitious AI-center goals into 2026, the next leg for ANET will likely depend on whether upcoming quarters produce the kind of upside that justifies premium multiples—or whether “good-but-not-better” execution keeps the stock range-bound. ^[35]