Why Piper Sandler Sees 2026 as an "Year of Refresh" for Arista Networks (ANET)

Arista Networks Inc (NYSE:ANET) is one of the AI Stocks on the Market's Radar. On January 5, Piper Sandler upgraded the stock to “Overweight” from Neutral Piper while raising its price target to $159.00 from $145.00. The firm said that it sees increased visibility for Arista, deeming 2026 as the “Year of Refresh” for the stock.

“With 2026 being the ‘Year of Refresh’ with increasing enterprise mentions and investments, the exposure to hyperscalers / AI-Titans, and a conservative setup at a reasonable valuation, we are upgrading ANET to OW and increasing our PT to $159.”

The firm noted that visibility behind Arista’s business model has been improving from multiple angles, which includes inventory and purchase commitments coverage ratio.

While concerns such as share shifts toward whitebox solutions and NVIDIA, worries related to capital expenditure cycle and a possible AI bubble do exist, Arista "appears to be holding its ground with its key customers.”

The company has been benefiting from large enterprise accounts across datacenter and campus, and is also benefiting from lagged capex trends as it “typically sees capex on a delayed basis relative to others in the datacenter."

Arista Networks Inc (NYSE:ANET) develops, markets, and sells cloud networking solutions.

While we acknowledge the potential of ANET as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

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