Buy ANET now: price is sitting right on the key pivot (~139) with bullish longer-term trend structure (SMA_5 > SMA_20 > SMA_200), giving an attractive “buy-near-support” entry for an impatient buyer.
Upside skew remains favorable into the next resistance zone (149.5, then 155.8) supported by strong fundamental growth and generally positive Street posture.
Main near-term headwinds are heavy insider selling and a mixed short-dated options tape (put-heavy volume), but they don’t outweigh the prevailing uptrend + strong business momentum for a “buy now” decision.
Momentum: MACD histogram positive (0.745) but contracting, implying upside momentum is cooling rather than reversing.
RSI (6): 49.33 (neutral)—not overbought, leaving room for continuation.
Levels: Pivot 139.288 (price ~138.5–139.4 pre-market is right at decision point). Support 129.066 then 122.751. Resistance 149.511 then 155.826.
Pattern-based forward odds (similar-candlestick analogs): positive bias (next day +1.34%, next week +2.27%, next month +7.38% probabilities/expectations as provided).
Options Data
Bullish
Open Interest Put-Call Ratio
Bearish
Option Volume Put-Call Ratio
Positioning (OI PCR 0.8): More calls than puts in open interest → medium-term sentiment constructive.
Volatility: IV30 ~54.1 vs HV ~53.3 (roughly in-line); IV percentile 66.4 suggests options are priced relatively rich versus its recent range.
Activity: Today’s volume ~84% of 30D avg (not a frenzy); open interest ~103% of avg (healthy positioning).
Technical Summary
Sell
1
Buy
12
Positive Catalysts
AI infrastructure spend narrative in the news cycle (OpenAI/Anthropic IPO acceleration talk) supports networking demand expectations, a thematic tailwind for Arista’s AI/hyperscaler exposure.
Upcoming earnings catalyst: QDEC 2025 earnings on 2026-02-12 (after hours); ANET has strong recent growth metrics that can support expectations if execution continues.
Analyst support: Recent upgrade to Overweight with higher PT (Piper) reinforces buy-side confidence.
Net income $853M, +14.05% YoY (profit growing, but slower than revenue).
EPS $0.67, +15.52% YoY.
Gross margin 64.56%, up 0.64 pts YoY (margin resilience supports quality of growth).
Growth
Profitability
Efficiency
Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends
Trend (recent): Net-positive tone with Piper Sandler upgrade to Overweight and PT raised to $159; Morgan Stanley maintains Overweight but trimmed PT ($171 → $159); Evercore keeps Outperform with $175; Citi reiterates Buy with $176; one downgrade to Hold (Erste) citing expense/valuation.
Wall Street pros: AI/hyperscaler exposure, “refresh year” setup, enterprise wins, visibility improving, still seen as share-holder.
Wall Street cons: valuation sensitivity, concerns about share shifts (whitebox/NVDA adjacency), and forward estimates not rising fast enough in some views.
Influential/political trading: No recent congress trading data available; hedge funds flagged as neutral in recent quarter.
Wall Street analysts forecast ANET stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for ANET is 171.42 USD with a low forecast of 140 USD and a high forecast of 200 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
15 Analyst Rating
Wall Street analysts forecast ANET stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for ANET is 171.42 USD with a low forecast of 140 USD and a high forecast of 200 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
13 Buy
2 Hold
0 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 128.670
Low
140
Averages
171.42
High
200
Current: 128.670
Low
140
Averages
171.42
High
200
BofA
Tal Liani
Buy -> Neutral
downgrade
$260
AI Analysis
2026-01-20
Reason
BofA
Tal Liani
Price Target
$260
AI Analysis
2026-01-20
downgrade
Buy -> Neutral
Reason
As previously reported, BofA analyst Tal Liani downgraded Ciena (CIEN) to Neutral from Buy with an unchanged price target of $260 despite additional revenue growth upside. The firm's focus instead is on downside risk to peaking backlog levels, high expectations, and a rich valuation with Ciena's stock up about 200% in the last year, the analyst tells investors. The cycles are strong and backed by robust backlog and deferred revenue, so the firm could see both Ciena and Arista (ANET) reporting better than expected growth, but questions "will it matter?"
Piper Sandler
Neutral
to
Overweight
upgrade
$145 -> $159
2026-01-05
Reason
Piper Sandler
Price Target
$145 -> $159
2026-01-05
upgrade
Neutral
to
Overweight
Reason
Piper Sandler upgraded Arista Networks (ANET) to Overweight from Neutral with a price target of $159, up from $145. With 2026 positioned as a "Year of Refresh," rising enterprise investment, hyperscaler and AI exposure, and a conservative setup at a reasonable valuation are improving model visibility, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Despite concerns around share shifts to whitebox and Nvidia (NVDA) and the broader capex/AI cycle, Arista appears to be holding share, gaining large enterprise customers, and benefiting from typically lagged capex trends, the firm says.
Unlock Full Analyst Thesis, Get the complete breakdown of rating reason for ANET