Insiders sold $97.6 million at Arista's record close, and the Nov 3 print decides if they were wrong
Insiders sold $97.6 million of Arista stock on the day it closed at a record, attackers landed a third exploited zero-day in its VeloCloud tool, and consensus sits at the top of management's own guidance going into the November 3 print.
Vincent Jiang · 2 min read
On October 9, Arista Networks+5.27% — Arista Networks, up 5.27 percent today closed at a record $216.74 2. By October 26 the stock had fallen 18.2% to $177.24 2. On the day of that record close, company insiders sold $97,642,614 of stock, by a Form 4 disclosure reported by MT Newswires; two earlier filings show $59.7 million sold in September and $7.8 million more on October 23, and Barron's reported CEO Jayshree Ullal herself sold about $34 million 51. The sellers, not the bulls, set the question for the November 3 earnings print 51.
The largest insider sale landed on Arista's record-close day
Data
| Value | |
|---|---|
| Sep 22 filing | $59.7M |
| Oct 9 filing | $97.6M |
| Oct 23 filing | $7.8M |
| CEO sale (Barron's) | $34M |
The stakes are a third guidance raise
2026 revenue guidance was raised three times, to roughly $12.6 billion and 40% growth, with a 48-49% operating margin target 1. Management's story, told on the August 4 call, is that the component shortage easing lets a rationed backlog finally ship 1.
The complication sits in the cash
Purchase commitments have tripled to $9.7 billion, gross margin slipped to 63.4% from 65.6% a year earlier, operating cash flow fell to 35.7% of revenue from 62.5% in the prior quarter, and Ullal expects industry supply problems to run until 2028 412. Meanwhile Arista patched a third actively exploited VeloCloud Orchestrator zero-day in four months, CVE-2026-114625, and its own advisory says the tool is exposed by default with no configuration that prevents it 6.
Consensus for the quarter is $1.08 non-GAAP earnings on $3.31 billion revenue, parked at the very top of management's own $1.06-$1.08 guide, with the whisper number at $1.15 1. Matching the guide instead of clearing it suggests the supply relief was more gradual than the last call implied.
What the bulls get to keep
Bulls note the stock still trades at 37.1x forward earnings against a 10-year average of 33.6x, so the market already priced patience 3. The reads to watch on November 3: revenue above $3.3 billion, gross margin holding 62-64%, and deferred revenue of $6.9 billion converting to shipments 1.
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