JPMorgan Reaffirms Bullish Stance on Arista Networks, Sees Strong Upside Potential

• Barclays reaffirmed its "Overweight" rating for Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET), raising its price target from $119 to $151.
• Arista reported a 30.4% year-over-year increase in revenues, reaching $2.21 billion, with a gross margin of 65.2%.
• The company has set a revenue goal of $10 billion for 2026, with a significant 450 basis point increase in the 2025 EBIT margin outlook.

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET) is a prominent player in the cloud networking solutions industry, providing high-performance networking products. The company is known for its innovative technology and strong market presence. Arista competes with other major networking companies like Cisco Systems and Juniper Networks. On August 7, 2025, Barclays reaffirmed its "Overweight" rating for Arista, with the stock priced at $138.78. Barclays also raised its price target from $119 to $151.

Arista's recent financial performance has been impressive, as highlighted by its second-quarter results. The company reported a 30.4% year-over-year increase in revenues, reaching $2.21 billion, surpassing the estimated $2.11 billion. This strong performance was driven by efficient inventory management and minimal tariff impact, resulting in a gross margin of 65.2%. The adjusted earnings per share rose to 73 cents, exceeding the forecasted 65 cents.

The positive financial results have led to increased optimism among analysts. Morgan Stanley maintained its Overweight rating, raising its price target from $120 to $125. Piper Sandler, despite a Neutral rating, significantly increased its price target from $89 to $143. UBS and Goldman Sachs also expressed favorable views, with Goldman Sachs raising its price target from $115 to $155.

Arista's management is optimistic about the future, setting a $10 billion revenue goal for 2026. The company has increased its full-year revenue growth guidance to 25%. The 450 basis point increase in the 2025 EBIT margin outlook highlights Arista's value in the competitive AI networking market. The company's non-GAAP operating income surpassed $1 billion for the first time, driven by strong demand and disciplined scale.

The stock has experienced a significant surge, with a 17.49% increase, translating to a change of $20.66. The stock's price fluctuated between $133.57 and $139.53, with the latter marking its highest price over the past year. Arista Networks has a substantial market capitalization of approximately $174.3 billion, reflecting its strong market position.

• Arista Networks Inc. (NYSE:ANET) reported a 30.4% increase in GAAP revenue in Q2 2025, reaching $2.2 billion.
• The company's non-GAAP earnings per share (EPS) for Q2 2025 were $0.73, exceeding consensus estimates by 12.4%.
• Arista's strong financial position is highlighted by its $2.23 billion in total cash and cash equivalents, with a market capitalization of approximately $148.35 billion.

Arista Networks Inc. (NYSE:ANET) is a prominent player in the field of data center networking hardware and software. The company is known for its high-speed network switches and software that support cloud, data centers, and large enterprise networks. Arista's innovative solutions cater to the growing demand for cloud and artificial intelligence networking. The company competes with other tech giants in the networking industry, striving to maintain its leadership position.

On August 6, 2025, Evercore ISI set a price target of $150 for Arista Networks, suggesting a potential price increase of approximately 27% from its current stock price of $118.12. This optimistic outlook is supported by Arista's impressive financial performance in the second quarter of 2025. The company reported GAAP revenue of $2.2 billion, a 30.4% increase from the same period in 2024, exceeding analyst expectations by $97.8 million.

Arista's non-GAAP earnings per share (EPS) reached $0.73, surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.65 by 12.4%. This strong performance was driven by increased demand for high-speed cloud and AI networking solutions, alongside margin expansion and record operational income. The company's gross margin for the second quarter was reported at 65.2%, reflecting its robust operational discipline and strategic initiatives.

The company's Q2 2025 earnings conference call, held on August 5, 2025, featured key participants such as CEO Jayshree V. Ullal and CFO Chantelle Breithaupt. Analysts from major financial institutions, including Evercore ISI, participated in the discussion, likely covering Arista's financial performance and market outlook. The positive results led to a surge in Arista's stock price, highlighting investor confidence in the company's future prospects.

Arista Networks concluded the quarter with $2.23 billion in total cash and cash equivalents, reinforcing its strong financial position. Despite a recent decrease of 1.85% in its stock price, Arista's market capitalization stands at approximately $148.35 billion. The company's strategic focus on data-driven AI networking positions it well for continued growth in the evolving tech landscape.

Evercore ISI lowered its price target on Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) to $100 from $130 while reaffirming an Outperform rating, citing tariff-related earnings pressure and a cautious market narrative. Despite a 33% year-to-date drop in the stock and bearish sentiment fueled by speculation of lost business at Meta and Oracle, Evercore believes the downside risks are overstated.

The firm contends that Arista remains well positioned to meet its $750 million AI back-end revenue target and maintain its full-year revenue guidance, even under one of the most pessimistic outlooks the stock has seen in years. While some believe Arista will struggle to achieve more than high-teens growth in 2025, Evercore anticipates growth in the low 20s, supported by ongoing gains in enterprise networking and potential upside from Apple’s growing AI infrastructure investments.

Tariffs are expected to modestly weigh on margins, prompting a 2% EPS trim per quarter due to a 10% import tax on non-China sourcing. However, Arista’s global manufacturing footprint in Mexico and Malaysia helps cushion the blow. Evercore sees the upcoming Q1 earnings on May 6 as a potential positive catalyst for shares and has added ANET to its tactical outperform list, maintaining its top pick status despite the price target cut.

Evercore ISI lowered its price target on Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) to $100 from $130 while reaffirming an Outperform rating, citing tariff-related earnings pressure and a cautious market narrative. Despite a 33% year-to-date drop in the stock and bearish sentiment fueled by speculation of lost business at Meta and Oracle, Evercore believes the downside risks are overstated.

The firm contends that Arista remains well positioned to meet its $750 million AI back-end revenue target and maintain its full-year revenue guidance, even under one of the most pessimistic outlooks the stock has seen in years. While some believe Arista will struggle to achieve more than high-teens growth in 2025, Evercore anticipates growth in the low 20s, supported by ongoing gains in enterprise networking and potential upside from Apple’s growing AI infrastructure investments.

Tariffs are expected to modestly weigh on margins, prompting a 2% EPS trim per quarter due to a 10% import tax on non-China sourcing. However, Arista’s global manufacturing footprint in Mexico and Malaysia helps cushion the blow. Evercore sees the upcoming Q1 earnings on May 6 as a potential positive catalyst for shares and has added ANET to its tactical outperform list, maintaining its top pick status despite the price target cut.

JPMorgan analysts maintained an Overweight rating on Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) with a $140 price target, adding the stock to the Analyst Focus List as a compelling growth opportunity following its recent pullback.

The decline in Arista’s stock has been driven by concerns over AI-related spending cuts from cloud providers and potential market share losses to white-box competitors. However, JPMorgan believes these risks are overstated and unlikely to significantly impact Arista’s long-term growth trajectory.

Currently, Arista shares are trading at 28x projected 2026 earnings, which, while not at a deep discount, still leaves room for substantial upside. The firm sees multiple growth catalysts, including stronger-than-expected earnings in 2025 and accelerating revenue growth in 2026 and 2027, fueled by rising Ethernet adoption in AI data centers and increasing customer demand for Ethernet-driven AI infrastructure.

With earnings momentum and valuation expansion potential, JPMorgan views Arista as well-positioned for long-term gains.

Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and revenue, while issuing an upbeat forecast for the current quarter, as the AI-driven surge in data center expansion continues to fuel demand for its networking equipment.

The company, which counts tech heavyweights Meta Platforms and Microsoft as key clients, has been leveraging the AI boom to drive sales of its Ethernet switches and routers, critical components for next-generation data centers.

For Q4, Arista reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.65 on revenue of $1.93 billion, surpassing analyst estimates of $0.57 per share and $1.90 billion in revenue. The company noted that it outperformed expectations across all key financial metrics.

Looking ahead, Arista projects Q1 revenue between $1.93 billion and $1.97 billion, ahead of Wall Street’s forecast of $1.91 billion, signaling continued strong customer demand.

Despite the positive outlook, some uncertainties loom over near-term growth. Analysts have pointed to potential delays in a Microsoft-related project and unclear timelines for Nvidia’s new AI-optimized Blackwell chips, which could affect Arista’s deployment cycles.

Market volatility in AI-driven tech stocks has also pressured Arista’s share price in 2025, especially after the emergence of a low-cost, open-source AI model from Chinese startup DeepSeek raised concerns about whether mega-cap tech firms will sustain their massive AI spending levels.

Adding to investor jitters, Morgan Stanley analysts highlighted a 17% year-over-year decline in revenue from Meta, calling it a key trend to watch. While they acknowledged the near-term weakness, they maintained a bullish stance on Arista’s long-term outlook, viewing pullbacks as a buying opportunity. As a result, the company’s shares fell more than 6% intra-day today.