Rosenblatt this week increased its price target for Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) to $165.00 from $140.00, while keeping a Neutral rating on the networking-equipment supplier ahead of the company's fourth-quarter earnings announcement. The firm’s reassessment accompanies a string of industry checks that Rosenblatt says show meaningful new business for Arista across hyperscalers and AI-focused customers.
Contract wins cited by Rosenblatt include a $1 billion Ethernet spine engagement with Google that incorporates EoS software, a sizable network agreement with Anthropic AI, and additional opportunities involving Meta, Microsoft and Google in collaboration with Ciena. Rosenblatt connects these wins to Arista’s recent top-line strength; the company has reported 27.8% revenue growth over the past twelve months.
From a market-value perspective, Arista carries a current market capitalization of $178.5 billion and trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 54. Data from InvestingPro referenced by Rosenblatt indicate that Arista is trading above its internally calculated Fair Value estimate. InvestingPro also classifies Arista as a leading firm in the Communications Equipment industry and assigns it a financial health score of 3.5, labeled as "GREAT."
Rosenblatt expects Arista to record robust fourth-quarter results when the company reports on Thursday, February 12. The firm anticipates that Arista could exceed consensus estimates for the quarter, which stand at $2.38 billion in revenue and $0.76 in earnings per share, and it flagged the potential for expanding deferred revenues as part of the company’s results profile.
Analysts’ price targets collected by InvestingPro range from $140 to $200 for Arista, and consensus projections show an expected EPS of $2.92 for fiscal 2025. Rosenblatt’s latest $165 target is explicitly calculated using a multiple of 40 times consensus 2027 EPS, a valuation approach the firm says underpins its incremental optimism.
Rosenblatt acknowledged persistent market concerns about the potential for AI-accelerated Ethernet networking to favor white-box vendors and new entrants, but said those worries are now better understood. The firm described itself as becoming "incrementally more positive" on Arista as a result of the company’s demonstrated traction in large-scale deals.
Valuation and near-term growth signals remain important contextual factors. InvestingPro flags that Arista is trading at a relatively high earnings multiple when compared with near-term growth expectations, noting a PEG ratio of 2.03. InvestingPro materials referenced additional tips and research coverage for investors evaluating Arista, including a range of analyst price targets and models used to assess Fair Value.
Other recent analyst actions and corporate developments underline divergent views among brokerages even as the company gains commercial traction. Piper Sandler upgraded Arista from Neutral to Overweight and raised its price target to $159, characterizing 2026 as a pivotal year for the company given exposure to hyperscalers, AI-Titans and rising enterprise investments. William Blair and Evercore ISI both reiterated Outperform/Outperform-equivalent ratings, with Evercore ISI setting a $175 price target and noting that Arista preserved a 20% sales growth projection for 2026 despite a negative market reaction to the company’s September quarter results. UBS also maintained a Buy rating with a $155 target.
On the product front, Arista has introduced VESPA, a technology aimed at large-scale campus mobility networks, expanded its Autonomous Virtual Assist capabilities and added ruggedized switches to its portfolio. Rosenblatt and other firms referenced these developments as evidence of Arista’s ongoing strategic initiatives and market presence.
Investors and market participants will be watching the company’s fourth-quarter release for confirmation of the contract momentum Rosenblatt describes and for signs that deferred revenue and order flow support the firm’s forecasted trajectory.