Arista Networks chief platform officer sells shares worth $1.62 million

In a recent transaction, John F. McCool, the Chief Platform Officer of Arista Networks , Inc. (NYSE:ANET), sold shares worth approximately $1.62 million. The sales occurred on February 24, 2025, under a pre-established Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The transaction comes as Arista Networks, a prominent player in the Communications Equipment industry, maintains strong financial health with an "GREAT" rating according to InvestingPro analysis. McCool sold a total of 17,433 shares at a weighted average price range between $92.64 and $94.2133 per share. Following these transactions, McCool holds 17,433 shares indirectly through a family trust. The stock has experienced a notable decline of -6.79% over the past week, though maintaining a robust 41.78% return over the past year. InvestingPro analysis reveals 16 additional key insights about Arista Networks’ performance and valuation metrics, available to subscribers.

In other recent news, Arista Networks reported fourth-quarter earnings that exceeded expectations, with earnings per share of $0.65 surpassing Goldman Sachs and consensus estimates. The company’s revenue reached $1.93 billion, outpacing the consensus forecast of $1.90 billion, driven by stronger gross margins and effective inventory management. Despite these results, Rosenblatt Securities maintained a Sell rating on Arista Networks, citing concerns about the company’s ability to meet its financial objectives in the AI back-end market. Meanwhile, Piper Sandler and Evercore ISI kept their Neutral and Outperform ratings, respectively, highlighting Arista’s progress in the Cloud & AI Titans segment and its revenue growth projections.

Needham maintained a Buy rating on Arista Networks, emphasizing the company’s operational margins and growth in the Cloud Titan segment, which includes Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) as a customer. The firm expressed confidence in Arista’s potential to capitalize on the AI-driven market, despite a slight decline in networking spend. Evercore ISI noted Arista’s decreased revenue dependency on Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), which now accounts for about 15% of sales, down from 21% the previous year. However, they remain optimistic about Arista’s outlook with Meta, expecting revenue growth as data networks increasingly adopt Ethernet.

Goldman Sachs raised its price target for Arista Networks to $145, maintaining a Buy rating, and highlighted the company’s strong performance in enterprise and software revenue. Despite some investor concerns over potential share loss due to weaker contributions from Meta, Arista reiterated its target of approximately $750 million in back-end AI revenue for 2025. The company is making significant progress in its AI cluster buildouts, which are expected to support over 100,000 GPUs. These recent developments reflect a mix of cautious optimism and ongoing challenges for Arista Networks in the evolving technology landscape.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.