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Arista Networks, Inc.: Q4 FY2025 earnings call

What management said about Q4 FY2025, from the documents filed with the SEC on 12 February 2026: press release. Guidance figures: 3 new. The quarter’s numbers.

Key takeaways

  • Revenue rose 28.9% from a year earlier: Fourth-quarter revenue was $2.488 billion, up 7.8% from the third quarter and 28.9% from the fourth quarter of 2024. Full-year revenue was $9.006 billion, up 28.6%. Source
  • GAAP net income and EPS both higher: Fourth-quarter GAAP net income was $955.8 million, or $0.75 per diluted share, against $801.0 million, or $0.62. Non-GAAP diluted EPS was $0.82, against $0.66. Source
  • R4 series platforms unveiled: Arista unveiled R4 series platforms for AI, data center and routed backbone deployments. Management cited high performance, low AI job completion times, low power consumption and integrated security. Source
  • Gross margin below third-quarter level: GAAP gross margin was 62.9%, against 64.6% in the third quarter and 63.8% a year earlier. Non-GAAP gross margin was 63.4%, against 65.2% and 64.2%. Source
  • Share repurchases were $1.6 billion: Repurchases of common stock were $1,603.1 million in 2025, against $423.6 million in 2024. Net cash used in financing activities was $1,595.9 million. Source

“2025 was the year of validation of our Arista 2.0 momentum, as we hit the milestone of shipping a cumulative of 150 million ports,”

Jayshree Ullal, Chairperson and CEO of Arista Networks

Guidance

AreaPeriodFigureAgainst last quarter
Revenue Sourcefirst quarter of 2026approximately $2.6 billionNew
Non-GAAP gross margin Sourcefirst quarter of 2026between approximately 62-63%New
Non-GAAP operating margin Sourcefirst quarter of 2026approximately 46%New

What changed from last quarter

  • New guidance: First-quarter 2026 guidance was given for revenue, non-GAAP gross margin and non-GAAP operating margin. The third-quarter release had given guidance only for the fourth quarter. Source
  • New: Todd Nightingale was named President and Chief Operating Officer, a role not listed in the third-quarter release. Source
  • New: Arista acquired the VeloCloud SD-WAN portfolio from Broadcom. The release says it complements Arista's existing portfolio. Source
  • New: The non-GAAP income tax method changed this quarter: direct excess tax benefits remain excluded, but discrete indirect effects are no longer excluded. Prior periods were recast. Source

Results and growth drivers

  • Revenue rose 28.9% from a year earlier: Fourth-quarter revenue was $2.488 billion, up 7.8% from the third quarter and 28.9% from the fourth quarter of 2024. Full-year revenue was $9.006 billion, up 28.6%. Source
  • GAAP net income and EPS both higher: Fourth-quarter GAAP net income was $955.8 million, or $0.75 per diluted share, against $801.0 million, or $0.62. Non-GAAP diluted EPS was $0.82, against $0.66. Source
  • Full-year profit and EPS higher: Full-year GAAP net income was $3.511 billion, or $2.75 per diluted share, against $2.852 billion, or $2.23 in 2024. Non-GAAP diluted EPS was $2.98, against $2.32. Source
  • Results against prior guidance ranges: Third-quarter guidance for fourth-quarter revenue was $2.3 - $2.4 billion; reported revenue was $2.488 billion. Non-GAAP gross margin was 63.4% against 62 - 63% guided, and non-GAAP operating margin 47.5% against 47 - 48%.
  • First-quarter guidance on non-GAAP basis: First-quarter 2026 guidance is on a non-GAAP basis, excluding stock-based compensation, intangible asset amortization and potential non-recurring items. A GAAP reconciliation is not given on a forward-looking basis. Source

Products and customer activity

  • R4 series platforms unveiled: Arista unveiled R4 series platforms for AI, data center and routed backbone deployments. Management cited high performance, low AI job completion times, low power consumption and integrated security. Source
  • AVA adds agentic AI features: Arista AVA was extended with agentic AI for multi-domain event correlation, continuous monitoring and network troubleshooting. Campus launches included VESPA for large WLAN mobility domains and ruggedized industrial edge switches. Source
  • AI job-level features added: Cluster Load Balancing and CloudVision Universal Network Observability were introduced to maximize AI workload performance and enable job-centric troubleshooting. Source

“Our Q4 results underscore the strong operating leverage inherent in our model, providing a powerful exit rate as we head into 2026,”

Chantelle Breithaupt, Arista’s CFO

Margins and costs

  • Gross margin below third-quarter level: GAAP gross margin was 62.9%, against 64.6% in the third quarter and 63.8% a year earlier. Non-GAAP gross margin was 63.4%, against 65.2% and 64.2%. Source
  • Full-year gross margin unchanged: Full-year GAAP gross margin was 64.1% and non-GAAP gross margin 64.6%, both unchanged from fiscal 2024. Full-year GAAP gross profit was $5,768.7 million. Source
  • Research and development spend rose: Research and development expense was $348.4 million in the fourth quarter, against $285.0 million. Total operating expenses were $530.9 million, against $431.4 million. Source
  • Tax provision higher year on year: The provision for income taxes was $181.6 million in the fourth quarter, against $88.0 million, and $738.3 million for the year, against $413.0 million. Non-GAAP results exclude tax effects of the OBBB Act. Source

Demand and deferred revenue

  • Service revenue higher in both periods: Service revenue was $392.1 million in the fourth quarter, against $322.3 million, and $1,428.8 million for the year, against $1,119.1 million. Source
  • Receivables and inventories increased: Accounts receivable, net, was $1,886.9 million at year end, against $1,140.5 million. Inventories were $2,247.1 million, against $1,834.6 million. Source

“By pairing 29% revenue growth with a disciplined 47.5% operating margin, Arista achieved a historic milestone: surpassing $1 billion in quarterly net income.”

Chantelle Breithaupt, Arista’s CFO

Cash, capital and shareholder returns

  • Operating cash flow reached $4.37 billion: Net cash provided by operating activities was $4,371.9 million for 2025, against $3,708.2 million in 2024. Deferred revenue changes contributed $2,452.0 million to operating cash flow. Source
  • Share repurchases were $1.6 billion: Repurchases of common stock were $1,603.1 million in 2025, against $423.6 million in 2024. Net cash used in financing activities was $1,595.9 million. Source
  • Cash and marketable securities higher: Cash and cash equivalents were $1,963.9 million and marketable securities $8,779.1 million at December 31, 2025, against $2,762.4 million and $5,541.1 million a year earlier. Source
  • Capital spending and acquisition cash: Purchases of property, equipment and intangible assets were $119.5 million for 2025, against $32.0 million. Cash paid for a business combination, net of cash acquired, was $300.0 million. Source

Strategy and leadership

  • ESUN scale-up Ethernet workstream: Arista is working with industry leaders on Ethernet for Scale-Up Networks, an open OCP workstream on standards-based scale-up Ethernet that is open to all. Source
  • AI agents for network operations: Arista announced AI agents to streamline network operations, combining open standards such as MCP with the programmability of EOS and NetDL. Source
  • Gartner placements cited: The release cites Gartner positions: Leaders quadrant for Data Center Switching, Visionaries quadrant for Enterprise Wired and Wireless LAN, and the highest Ability to Execute in Data Center Switching. Source
  • Duda and Lamoreaux roles set: Kenneth Duda was promoted to President and Chief Technology Officer; Tyson Lamoreaux was appointed Senior Vice President of Cloud and AI Networking. Both roles had been announced in the third-quarter release. Source

Coming up, as management said on 12 February 2026

  • First-quarter 2026 expectations: Management gave expectations for the first quarter of 2026. The release does not give a date for the next guidance update. Source

Figures management reported

FigureReported
Units: cumulative ports shipped Source150 million
Gross margin, GAAP, fourth quarter Source62.9%
Gross margin, non-GAAP, fourth quarter Source63.4%
Gross margin, GAAP, full year Source64.1%
Segment revenue, product, fourth quarter Source$2,095.7 million
Segment revenue, service, fourth quarter Source$392.1 million

Earlier plans management reported on

  • Ahead: Management said it exceeded its 2025 AI networking and campus expansion goals. Source

Other quarters

Summarised with AI from the documents the company filed with the SEC. Every point is checked against the filing before it is shown: management’s own words word for word, figures against the line or table row they come from. A point that fails the check is left out. Source opens the filing at that line.