Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Arista (ANET) to Power Alabama Fiber Network: Time to Buy?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Arista Networks, Inc. (ANET - Free Report) was recently selected by the Alabama Fiber Network (“AFN”), a consortium of eight electric cooperatives, to provide routing and switching equipment for the robust middle-mile network project throughout underserved rural areas across the region. The $340 million investment includes the deployment of Arista's high-performance 7280SR3 platform for seamless connectivity across diverse locations.

In addition to a scalable and adaptable architecture, the platform offers robust automation, routing and switching capabilities to handle the demands of the extensive network. AFN will also leverage Arista's CloudVision platform for streamlined network management, Arista Professional Services for implementation and validation and enterprise solutions for customer additions, thereby strengthening Arista’s leading market position.

Solid Market Traction

Arista holds a leadership position in a 100-gigabit Ethernet switching share-in port for the high-speed datacenter segment. It is increasingly gaining market traction in 200- and 400-gig high-performance switching products. In addition, Arista offers one of the broadest product lines of datacenter and campus Ethernet switches and routers in the industry. It provides routing and switching platforms with industry-leading capacity, low latency, port density and power efficiency. Arista also innovates in areas such as deep packet buffers, embedded optics and reversible cooling.

The company is witnessing solid demand trends among enterprise customers backed by its multi-domain modern software approach, which is built upon its unique and differentiating foundation, the single EOS (Extensible Operating System) and CloudVision stack. The versatility of Arista’s unified software stack across various use cases, including WAN routing and campus and data center infrastructure, sets it apart from other competitors in the industry.

Cognitive Wi-Fi Software, Cloud Focus

Arista continues benefiting from the expanding cloud networking market, driven by strong demand for scalable infrastructure. In addition to high capacity and easy availability, its cloud networking solutions promise predictable performance and programmability, enabling integration with third-party applications for network management, automation and orchestration.

With customers deploying transformative cloud networking solutions, the company has announced several additions to its multi-cloud and cloud-native software product family with CloudEOS Edge. It has introduced cognitive Wi-Fi software that delivers intelligent application identification, automated troubleshooting and location services. This supports video conferencing applications like Microsoft Teams developed by Microsoft Corporation (MSFT - Free Report) and Zoom.

Price Performance

Buoyed by a holistic growth model, Arista has surged 90.7% over the past year compared with the industry’s growth of 64.5%. It has also outperformed its peers like Juniper Networks, Inc. (JNPR - Free Report) and Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO - Free Report) over this period.

Driven by improved market demand on the back of a flexible business model and solid cash flow, Arista continues to benefit from strong momentum and diversification across its top verticals and product lines. The company has a software-driven, data-centric approach to help customers build their cloud architecture and enhance their cloud experience. It is well-poised for growth in data-driven cloud networking business with proactive platforms and predictive operations.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Estimate Revision Trend

Earnings estimates for Arista for 2024 have moved up 23.5% to $8.24 over the past year, while the same for 2025 has increased 23.4% to $9.24. The positive estimate revision depicts optimism about the stock’s growth potential.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

ANET Trading Above 50-Day Moving Average

Arista is currently trading above the 50-day moving average.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

End Note

With solid fundamentals and healthy revenue-generating potential driven by robust demand trends, Arista appears to be a solid investment proposition. Further, a strong emphasis on quality, diligent execution of operational plans and continuous portfolio enhancements are driving more value for customers. Steady improvement in lead times and easing of supply chain woes are major tailwinds. 

It delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 15%. Arista currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Riding on a robust earnings surprise history and favorable Zacks Rank, ANET appears primed for further stock price appreciation. Consequently, investors are likely to profit if they bet on this high-flying stock now.

Published in