AI Network Hopes Reignite… Arista Networks Sees $910 Million Surge in Market Cap in Just One Day

Arista Networks (ARISTA NETWORKS INC: ANET) shares jumped 5.28% on January 13 in New York trading, closing at $129.66. Trading volume reached 4.78 million shares, surpassing the recent daily average, and the company’s market capitalization rose by about $910 million (roughly ₩1.32 trillion) in a single session. After roughly a 10% pullback over the past month, the stock appears to have established a floor and begun a rebound.

Analysts attribute the rally to a mix of upbeat brokerage reports—framing this year as a “refresh” for data-center and AI networking investments—and institutional research pointing to still-robust AI and cloud demand despite broader growth concerns. Piper Sandler upgraded its rating on Arista in early January, forecasting that AI-related network refresh demand will continue through 2026. Although some directors reported constrained share sales under pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans in early January, the impact on the share price was limited given the planned nature of those trades.

Arista Networks supplies Ethernet switches and routers for data centers and AI workloads, primarily serving large cloud providers and major tech firms. The company highlights its next-generation 800G Ethernet-based switching and routing platforms and its proprietary EOS operating system, leveraging low-latency, low-power networking to expand its footprint in large-scale AI compute environments. In the second quarter of fiscal 2025, Arista posted revenue of $2.205 billion—up more than 30% year-over-year—and non-GAAP net income of $923.5 million, reaffirming its standing as a high-margin growth stock.

However, guidance pointing to slower growth beyond 2026 compared with 2025, along with ongoing valuation concerns, remains a potential headwind. Some analysts warn that revenue growth could decelerate to the mid-teens next year, and a moderation in the AI-infrastructure investment cycle might increase pressure for a valuation reset. Nonetheless, Arista’s role as a core network-infrastructure supplier amid the structural shift to cloud and AI appears to have underpinned today’s stock rebound.