Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Stock Price Down 1.4% Following Weak Earnings

05 May 2026, 16:58 by Renee Jackson · The Cerbat Gem

Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET – Get Free Report)’s stock price was down 1.4% during trading on Tuesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as low as $169.89 and last traded at $170.1840. Approximately 13,867,475 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 79% from the average daily volume of 7,755,809 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.62.

The technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by ($0.01). Arista Networks had a return on equity of 30.37% and a net margin of 38.99%.Arista Networks has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.880 EPS.

Key Headlines Impacting Arista Networks

Here are the key news stories impacting Arista Networks this week:

Positive Sentiment: Company raised Q2 EPS guidance to $0.88 (vs. consensus $0.84), while revenue guidance is roughly in line with expectations (~$2.8B) — a near-term earnings beat that supports the bull case for continued demand in data center/AI networking.
Positive Sentiment: Arista reported solid Q1 results and management tone was upbeat, highlighting strong demand and a good net promoter score — results that validate the guidance raise and growth story. Arista Networks, Inc. Reports First Quarter 2026 Financial Results
Positive Sentiment: High-profile endorsements and analyst mentions (Jim Cramer and Zacks lists) are drawing retail and momentum interest, which can support near-term flows into ANET. Jim Cramer Says He “Would Buy Arista Networks”
Neutral Sentiment: Broader market strength (S&P/Nasdaq near record highs) is a tailwind for tech stocks generally, which may help limit downside if macro sentiment stays positive. S&P 500, Nasdaq Climb Back to Record Highs. Earnings Are in Focus.
Neutral Sentiment: Industry commentary (Zacks) highlights Arista as a beneficiary of AI and hybrid work demand — supportive longer-term backdrop but already widely acknowledged by the market. 5 Stocks With High ROE to Buy as Markets Battle Intense Volatility
Negative Sentiment: Insider selling activity has accelerated in April, which can create concern among some investors and add selling pressure despite company-level beats. Leading Insider Sales: April Activity Ramps in These Stocks (ANET)
Negative Sentiment: ANET trades at a high multiple (P/E and PEG elevated), making it sensitive to growth execution misses or multiple compression — a valuation headwind if market sentiment shifts.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on ANET shares. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Arista Networks from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Arista Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $180.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $178.00 price objective (up from $170.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research raised shares of Arista Networks from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $178.67.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Arista Networks

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 428,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.44, for a total transaction of $75,944,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 5,209,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $924,321,690.08. The trade was a 7.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Kenneth Duda sold 32,000 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.14, for a total transaction of $4,292,480.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 12,976 shares in the company, valued at $1,740,600.64. This represents a 71.15% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 1,494,729 shares of company stock worth $245,304,519 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Intrua Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 2.7% in the first quarter. Intrua Financial LLC now owns 2,307 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $283,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. NBT Bank N A NY lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 37.2% in the first quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 247 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 4.1% in the first quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 1,744 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $214,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 0.4% in the third quarter. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,509 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,697,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Arista Networks by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 16,085 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,133,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.47% of the company’s stock.

Arista Networks Stock Down 1.4%

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $141.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $137.69. The stock has a market cap of $214.29 billion, a PE ratio of 61.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.67.

About Arista Networks

(Get Free Report)

Arista Networks, Inc is a technology company that designs and sells cloud networking solutions for large-scale data centers and enterprise environments. The company is best known for its high-performance switching and routing platforms, which are used to build scalable, low-latency networks for cloud service providers, internet companies, financial services, telecommunications, and enterprise IT. Arista’s offerings emphasize programmability, automation and telemetry to support modern, software-driven network architectures.

Central to Arista’s product portfolio is its Extensible Operating System (EOS), a modular network operating system that provides consistent programmability, stateful control and advanced visibility across the company’s hardware platforms.