Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) Stock Price Down 1.7% – What’s Next?

11 Feb 2026, 23:44 by Kim Johansen · The Markets Daily

Shares of Arista Networks, Inc. (NYSE:ANET – Get Free Report) dropped 1.7% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $138.22 and last traded at $140.9610. Approximately 6,918,542 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 17% from the average daily volume of 8,338,204 shares. The stock had previously closed at $143.45.

Key Headlines Impacting Arista Networks

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

Positive Sentiment: Analysts are bullish ahead of Arista’s fiscal Q4 print — consensus expectations point to double‑digit earnings growth (roughly +17%), which supports upside if results meet or beat forecasts. Arista Networks Q4 preview: Analysts bullish ahead of results as earnings seen rising 17%
Positive Sentiment: Street sentiment remains broadly constructive heading into Q4 results, per recent analyst commentary — supportive for the share price if guidance stays upbeat. Analyst Sentiment on Arista Networks (ANET) Remains Strong Ahead of Fiscal Q4 2025 Results
Positive Sentiment: Unusual options activity: investors bought ~44,291 call contracts (≈ +74% vs. typical call volume), signaling speculative bullish interest that can amplify moves on good news.
Positive Sentiment: Some firms upgraded/raised coverage ahead of earnings and cited Arista as a top industry player — upgrades can attract flows and provide short‑term support. Arista Networks No. 1 in its industry; gets rating upgrade with Q4 earnings due Thursday
Positive Sentiment: Macro/sector tailwind: Arista is cited among cloud/computing names to own as digital transformation continues, supporting longer‑term demand narratives. Buy 4 Cloud Computing Stocks as Digital Transformation Gains Traction
Neutral Sentiment: Rosenblatt raised its price target to $165 (vs. current levels) but kept a “neutral” rating — a higher target is constructive, but the neutral stance mutes conviction. Benzinga
Negative Sentiment: Risk note: reporting ties Arista’s growth closely to AI‑optimized data centers but flags new execution and market risks around that opportunity; any cautious guidance on AI demand could pressure the stock. Arista Networks Ties Growth To AI Data Centers Amid New Risks

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on ANET shares. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Arista Networks in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Piper Sandler upgraded Arista Networks from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $159.00 in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Arista Networks in a report on Monday, December 29th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Arista Networks from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $183.00 price target (up previously from $179.00) on shares of Arista Networks in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $166.00.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on ANET

Arista Networks Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $177.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.42. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $132.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $136.68.

Insider Activity at Arista Networks

In other Arista Networks news, insider Kenneth Duda sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.16, for a total value of $3,694,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 12,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,598,124.16. This represents a 69.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jayshree Ullal sold 24,042 shares of Arista Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $2,994,431.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,917 shares in the company, valued at $1,235,162.35. The trade was a 70.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 216,464 shares of company stock worth $27,553,548 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.39% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arista Networks

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ANET. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Arista Networks in the second quarter valued at about $1,228,177,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Arista Networks by 2,829.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,721,156 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $833,630,000 after acquiring an additional 5,525,828 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 193.3% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,065,054 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $721,342,000 after purchasing an additional 4,656,021 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Arista Networks by 82.5% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 9,587,115 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,396,939,000 after purchasing an additional 4,332,659 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in Arista Networks by 3,182.7% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 4,012,373 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $525,741,000 after purchasing an additional 3,890,146 shares in the last quarter. 82.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Arista Networks Company Profile

(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.