Should You Buy Arista Networks Inc (ANET) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.
Conclusion
Buy
Latest Price
150.150
1 Day change
2.36%
52 Week Range
164.940
Analysis Updated At
2026/01/28
Buy for a long-term beginner investor, even at today’s higher pre-market price (~152.56). The trend is strongly bullish and fundamentals are still growing at a high rate. Upside may be more limited in the very near term because the stock is extended (overbought and above key resistance), but for an impatient long-term investor ANET still looks like a solid quality entry ahead of the next earnings cycle. The main reason not to buy would be the sharp increase in insider selling, which is a real negative signal, but it is not currently enough to outweigh the company’s growth + improving Street stance.
Technical Analysis
Price/Trend: Strong uptrend with bullish moving-average stack (SMA_5 > SMA_20 > SMA_200). Momentum is positive (MACD histogram +2.015 and expanding), confirming trend strength.
Overbought/Extension: RSI_6 is ~77.6, which is typically overbought and suggests the stock is extended after the recent run.
Levels: Pivot ~135.29. Resistance levels were R1 ~145.30 and R2 ~151.49; the pre-market price (~152.56) is slightly above R2, implying a breakout but also that the stock is extended and may chop/pull back after the gap-up.
Pattern-based odds (given): Model suggests bullish continuation probabilities (80% chance of modest gains next day/week/month).
Intellectia Proprietary Trading Signals
- [AI Stock Picker](module://ai_stock_pick): No signal on given stock today.
- [SwingMax](module://swingmax): No signal on given stock recently.
Options Data
Bullish
Open Interest Put-Call Ratio
Bearish
Option Volume Put-Call Ratio
Sentiment read: Open interest put/call at 0.8 is moderately bullish positioning (more calls outstanding than puts). However, the *volume* put/call at 1.72 is short-term cautious/bearish (more puts traded than calls), consistent with traders hedging into a strong move.
Volatility: IV (30d ~54.1) is above HV (~53.3) and IV percentile ~66, meaning options are priced relatively rich vs recent history—often seen ahead of catalysts (next earnings on 2026-02-12) or after sharp moves.
4) Upcoming earnings (QDEC 2025 on 2026-02-12 after hours) can act as an upside catalyst if guidance re-accelerates.
Neutral/Negative Catalysts
1) Insider selling: insiders are net sellers and selling increased ~706% over the last month—this is the biggest internal red flag in the dataset.
2) Technical extension: RSI is overbought and price is now above the R2 resistance (~151.49) after a gap-up, increasing odds of near-term consolidation.
3) Options flow near-term is defensive (put volume > call volume), suggesting some traders are hedging against a pullback.
4) Macro/event noise: broad market sensitivity to Washington funding/shutdown headlines could increase volatility (news is not ANET-specific, but can impact risk assets).
Recent trend: Mixed but improving at the margin.
- Positive change: Piper Sandler upgraded ANET to Overweight (PT raised to $159), explicitly highlighting 2026 as a “Year of Refresh” and better visibility.
- Ongoing bullish views: Citi reiterates Buy with a $176 PT; Barclays Overweight with $183; Evercore keeps Outperform ($175); Morgan Stanley remains Overweight though trimmed PT to $159.
- Key caution: Some voices flag valuation/expectations risk (e.g., Erste downgraded to Hold; others note high expectations and selectivity on multiples).
Wall Street pros: durable AI/cloud/campus networking tailwinds, share resilience, strong growth profile.
Wall Street cons: valuation/expectations high, potential capex cycle sensitivity, and risk that forward estimates don’t rise enough to justify multiples.
Influential/political trading: No recent congress trading data available.
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: 146.690
Low
140
Averages
171.42
High
200
Current: 146.690
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.
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