Is Arista Networks a Buy After Investment Company Stanley-Laman Group Began a Position in the Stock?

Investment management company Stanley-Laman Group, Ltd. disclosed a new position in Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET), acquiring 61,078 shares in the third quarter of 2025 with an estimated trade value of $8.90 million as of September 30, 2025.

What happened

According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission dated October 22, 2025, Stanley-Laman Group initiated a new position in Arista Networks during the third quarter, acquiring 61,078 shares valued at $8.90 million. The position represents 1.27% of the fund’s $701.80 million in reportable U.S. equity assets, and is outside the fund’s top five holdings.

What else to know

This is a newly established position and constitutes 1.27% of the fund’s 13F U.S. equity assets under management.

Stanley-Laman Group's top holdings after the filing are:

• MSFT: $20.93 million (3.0% of AUM)
• GOOGL: $17.80 million (2.5% of AUM)
• AMZN: $15.06 million (2.1% of AUM)
• NVDA: $13.77 million (2.0% of AUM)
• CCO: $12.98 million (1.9% of AUM)

As of October 21, 2025, Arista Networks shares were priced at $145.94, up 43.8% over the year ending October 21, 2025, outperforming the S&P 500 by 28.7 percentage points.

Arista Networks reported trailing twelve-month revenue of $7.95 billion and net income of $3.25 billion for the period ended June 30, 2025.

The five-year compound annual revenue growth rate for Arista Networks through the end of 2024 is 23.8%.

Company Overview

Company Snapshot

Arista Networks provides cloud networking hardware and software solutions in the technology sector. Its offerings include extensible operating systems, network applications, and gigabit Ethernet switching and routing platforms.

IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.

The company generates revenue through product sales and post-contract customer support services such as technical support, hardware repair, and software updates. Arista Networks serves internet companies, service providers, financial services, government agencies, and media organizations globally.

Foolish take

Stanley-Laman Group saw fit to initiate a stake in Arista Networks, and that merits attention for a few reasons. The investment management company has over 250 holdings, many in the tech sector. So why start investing in Arista Networks now? Not only that, the purchase was substantial enough to bring Arista into Stanley-Laman Group's top ten holdings.

One factor is the strong revenue growth Arista Networks is seeing. In its second quarter, the company reached revenue of $2.2 billion, an impressive 30% year-over-year increase. Arista expects Q3 sales to come in at $2.3 billion, up from the prior year's $1.8 billion.

Another consideration is artificial intelligence. Arista's high-speed product suite delivers the performance AI systems require, and with organizations around the world rushing to expand AI infrastructure, Arista is well positioned to see continued sales growth.

In fact, Nvidia announced a blockbuster $100 billion deal with OpenAI to construct data centers for AI, and these kinds of infrastructure announcements could have contributed to Stanley-Laman Group's decision to jump on Arista stock at this time. This is in spite of shares trading for a premium valuation with a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 44.

Arista's excellent sales to date and future growth prospects make the stock a worthwhile investment. But because its shares are expensive, you may want to wait for a price drop before deciding to buy.

Glossary

Position: The amount of a particular security or asset held by an investor or fund.
13F: A quarterly report filed by institutional investment managers listing their U.S. equity holdings.
AUM (Assets Under Management): The total market value of assets that an investment firm manages on behalf of clients.
Trailing twelve-month (TTM): The 12-month period ending with the most recent quarterly report.
Compound annual growth rate (CAGR): The annualized rate of return for an investment over a specified period, assuming profits are reinvested.
Equity assets: Investments in ownership shares of companies, such as stocks, held by a fund or investor.
Stake: The portion or percentage of a company owned by an investor or fund.
Cloud networking: Technology enabling network resources and services to be managed or delivered through cloud computing platforms.
Post-contract customer support: Services provided to customers after a product sale, such as technical support or software updates.
Gigabit Ethernet: A high-speed network standard that transmits data at one gigabit per second.

Robert Izquierdo has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, Arista Networks, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Arista Networks, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends Cameco and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.