Arista shares rise 5.1% after Q3 profit beats estimates

Arista Networks (ANET) said on Nov. 3 that third-quarter revenue rose 58.5% from a year earlier to $3.66 billion, above the $3.4 billion consensus estimate. Non-GAAP diluted earnings of $1.20 per share also beat the $1.10 consensus estimate.

Shares rose 5.1% in regular trading as of 3:59 p.m. ET on Nov. 4, from a regular-session close of $169.91.

The company said revenue growth was the highest year over year since its initial public offering. Arista's platforms cover networking for large AI, data center, campus and routing environments.

Here's how the company did:

• Revenue: $3.66 billion vs. $2.31 billion a year earlier, against a $3.4 billion expected
• Non-GAAP diluted EPS: $1.20 per share vs. 77 cents a year earlier, against $1.10 expected
• GAAP diluted EPS: $1.22 per share vs. 67 cents a year earlier
• Net income: $1.56 billion vs. $853.0 million a year earlier

Margins and profit

GAAP operating margin was 44.9%, up from 42.4% a year earlier. Non-GAAP operating margin was 49.1%, up from 48.6%.

The company booked $134.5 million in gains on strategic investments in the quarter. Its non-GAAP results exclude those gains.

Chief Financial Officer Chantelle Breithaupt said, "This quarter brought a true trifecta for our company, setting new record highs in revenue growth, net income, and EPS."

Chairperson and CEO Jayshree Ullal said, "Arista registered another momentous quarter with the highest year-over-year revenue growth since our IPO and record profitability, surpassing even my high expectations."

Revenue has risen in each of the last three quarters, from $2.31 billion in the third quarter of 2025 to $3.04 billion in the second quarter of 2026, according to its SEC filings.

Fourth-quarter guidance

For the fourth quarter of 2026, the company expects revenue of $3.9 billion to $4.0 billion, a non-GAAP operating margin of 48% to 49%, and non-GAAP diluted net income of $1.26 to $1.30 per share.

Its August 4 results release had guided to third-quarter revenue of approximately $3.3 billion. Third-quarter revenue of $3.66 billion exceeded that figure.

The company said its non-GAAP guidance excludes stock-based compensation expense, intangible asset amortization, tax benefits on stock-based awards and potential non-recurring items.

Product and company news

Arista announced open Ethernet rack-scale architectures for scale-up and scale-out AI networks. The company said it launched them with AMD, Arm, Broadcom, d-Matrix, Meta, Microsoft and Qualcomm.

The new liquid-cooled portfolio uses Ethernet for Scale-Up Networks (ESUN) and the Etherlink SU-144 architecture, which supports up to 144 accelerators per rack in a single hop.

Arista also detailed a scale-across networking strategy built on its 7800 AI Spine and expanded AI-driven software security across its development lifecycle.

In September 2026, Arista was added to the S&P 100 index.