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Side-by-side financial comparison of Arista Networks (ANET) and Cisco (CSCO). Click either name above to swap in a different company.

Cisco is the larger business by last-quarter revenue ($15.3B vs $2.5B, roughly 6.2× Arista Networks). Arista Networks runs the higher net margin — 38.4% vs 20.7%, a 17.7% gap on every dollar of revenue. On growth, Arista Networks posted the faster year-over-year revenue change (28.9% vs 9.7%). Over the past eight quarters, Arista Networks's revenue compounded faster (25.8% CAGR vs 9.9%).

Arista Networks, Inc. is an American computer networking company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The company designs and sells multilayer network switches to deliver software-defined networking (SDN) for large datacenter, cloud computing, high-performance computing, and high-frequency trading environments. These products include 10/25/40/50/100/200/400/800 gigabit low-latency cut-through Ethernet switches. Arista's Linux-based network operating system, Extensible Operating System (E...

Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, software, telecommunications equipment and other high-technology services and products.

ANET vs CSCO — Head-to-Head

Bigger by revenue
CSCO
CSCO
6.2× larger
CSCO
$15.3B
$2.5B
ANET
Growing faster (revenue YoY)
ANET
ANET
+19.2% gap
ANET
28.9%
9.7%
CSCO
Higher net margin
ANET
ANET
17.7% more per $
ANET
38.4%
20.7%
CSCO
Faster 2-yr revenue CAGR
ANET
ANET
Annualised
ANET
25.8%
9.9%
CSCO

Income Statement — Q4 FY2025 vs Q2 FY2026

Metric
ANET
ANET
CSCO
CSCO
Revenue
$2.5B
$15.3B
Net Profit
$955.8M
$3.2B
Gross Margin
62.9%
65.0%
Operating Margin
41.5%
24.6%
Net Margin
38.4%
20.7%
Revenue YoY
28.9%
9.7%
Net Profit YoY
19.3%
30.8%
EPS (diluted)
$0.74
$0.80

Green = leading value per metric. Periods may differ when fiscal calendars don't align.

8-Quarter Revenue & Profit Trend

Side-by-side quarterly history. Quarters aligned by calendar period so offset fiscal years line up.

Revenue
ANET
ANET
CSCO
CSCO
Q1 26
$15.3B
Q4 25
$2.5B
$14.9B
Q3 25
$2.3B
$14.7B
Q2 25
$2.2B
$14.1B
Q1 25
$2.0B
$14.0B
Q4 24
$1.9B
$13.8B
Q3 24
$1.8B
$13.6B
Q2 24
$1.7B
$12.7B
Net Profit
ANET
ANET
CSCO
CSCO
Q1 26
$3.2B
Q4 25
$955.8M
$2.9B
Q3 25
$853.0M
$2.5B
Q2 25
$888.8M
$2.5B
Q1 25
$813.8M
$2.4B
Q4 24
$801.0M
$2.7B
Q3 24
$747.9M
$2.2B
Q2 24
$665.4M
$1.9B
Gross Margin
ANET
ANET
CSCO
CSCO
Q1 26
65.0%
Q4 25
62.9%
65.5%
Q3 25
64.6%
63.2%
Q2 25
65.2%
65.6%
Q1 25
63.7%
65.1%
Q4 24
63.8%
65.9%
Q3 24
64.2%
64.4%
Q2 24
64.9%
65.1%
Operating Margin
ANET
ANET
CSCO
CSCO
Q1 26
24.6%
Q4 25
41.5%
22.6%
Q3 25
42.4%
21.0%
Q2 25
44.7%
22.6%
Q1 25
42.8%
22.3%
Q4 24
41.4%
17.0%
Q3 24
43.4%
19.2%
Q2 24
41.4%
17.2%
Net Margin
ANET
ANET
CSCO
CSCO
Q1 26
20.7%
Q4 25
38.4%
19.2%
Q3 25
37.0%
17.4%
Q2 25
40.3%
17.6%
Q1 25
40.6%
17.4%
Q4 24
41.5%
19.6%
Q3 24
41.3%
15.8%
Q2 24
39.4%
14.8%
EPS (diluted)
ANET
ANET
CSCO
CSCO
Q1 26
$0.80
Q4 25
$0.74
$0.72
Q3 25
$0.67
$0.64
Q2 25
$0.70
$0.62
Q1 25
$0.64
$0.61
Q4 24
$-4.17
$0.68
Q3 24
$2.33
$0.54
Q2 24
$2.08
$0.46

Balance Sheet & Financial Strength

Snapshot of each company's liquidity, leverage and book value from the latest quarter.

Metric
ANET
ANET
CSCO
CSCO
Cash + ST InvestmentsLiquidity on hand
$2.0B
$15.8B
Total DebtLower is stronger
$24.6B
Stockholders' EquityBook value
$12.4B
$47.7B
Total Assets
$19.4B
$123.4B
Debt / EquityLower = less leverage
0.52×

8-quarter trend — quarters aligned by calendar period.

Cash + ST Investments
ANET
ANET
CSCO
CSCO
Q1 26
$15.8B
Q4 25
$2.0B
$15.7B
Q3 25
$2.3B
$16.1B
Q2 25
$2.2B
$15.6B
Q1 25
$1.8B
$16.9B
Q4 24
$2.8B
$18.7B
Q3 24
$3.2B
$17.9B
Q2 24
$2.4B
$18.8B
Total Debt
ANET
ANET
CSCO
CSCO
Q1 26
$24.6B
Q4 25
$24.6B
Q3 25
$24.6B
Q2 25
$25.1B
Q1 25
$20.1B
Q4 24
$20.1B
Q3 24
$20.1B
Q2 24
$20.1B
Stockholders' Equity
ANET
ANET
CSCO
CSCO
Q1 26
$47.7B
Q4 25
$12.4B
$46.9B
Q3 25
$11.9B
$46.8B
Q2 25
$10.9B
$45.9B
Q1 25
$10.1B
$45.5B
Q4 24
$10.0B
$45.3B
Q3 24
$9.2B
$45.5B
Q2 24
$8.4B
$45.8B
Total Assets
ANET
ANET
CSCO
CSCO
Q1 26
$123.4B
Q4 25
$19.4B
$121.1B
Q3 25
$18.0B
$122.3B
Q2 25
$16.5B
$119.8B
Q1 25
$14.5B
$121.4B
Q4 24
$14.0B
$123.3B
Q3 24
$12.8B
$124.4B
Q2 24
$11.6B
$123.0B
Debt / Equity
ANET
ANET
CSCO
CSCO
Q1 26
0.52×
Q4 25
0.53×
Q3 25
0.53×
Q2 25
0.55×
Q1 25
0.44×
Q4 24
0.44×
Q3 24
0.44×
Q2 24
0.44×

Cash Flow & Capital Efficiency

How much cash each business actually produces after reinvestment. Cash flow is harder to manipulate than net income.

Metric
ANET
ANET
CSCO
CSCO
Operating Cash FlowLast quarter
$1.3B
$1.8B
Free Cash FlowOCF − Capex
$1.5B
FCF MarginFCF / Revenue
10.0%
Capex IntensityCapex / Revenue
1.8%
Cash ConversionOCF / Net Profit
1.32×
0.57×
TTM Free Cash FlowTrailing 4 quarters
$12.2B

8-quarter trend — quarters aligned by calendar period.

Operating Cash Flow
ANET
ANET
CSCO
CSCO
Q1 26
$1.8B
Q4 25
$1.3B
$3.2B
Q3 25
$1.3B
$4.2B
Q2 25
$1.2B
$4.1B
Q1 25
$641.7M
$2.2B
Q4 24
$1.0B
$3.7B
Q3 24
$1.2B
$3.7B
Q2 24
$989.0M
$4.0B
Free Cash Flow
ANET
ANET
CSCO
CSCO
Q1 26
$1.5B
Q4 25
$2.9B
Q3 25
$1.2B
$4.0B
Q2 25
$1.2B
$3.8B
Q1 25
$613.3M
$2.0B
Q4 24
$3.4B
Q3 24
$1.2B
$3.5B
Q2 24
$985.9M
$3.8B
FCF Margin
ANET
ANET
CSCO
CSCO
Q1 26
10.0%
Q4 25
19.4%
Q3 25
53.6%
27.4%
Q2 25
53.3%
26.8%
Q1 25
30.6%
14.5%
Q4 24
24.9%
Q3 24
64.5%
25.9%
Q2 24
58.3%
29.9%
Capex Intensity
ANET
ANET
CSCO
CSCO
Q1 26
1.8%
Q4 25
2.2%
Q3 25
1.3%
1.5%
Q2 25
1.1%
1.8%
Q1 25
1.4%
1.5%
Q4 24
1.6%
Q3 24
0.4%
1.5%
Q2 24
0.2%
1.3%
Cash Conversion
ANET
ANET
CSCO
CSCO
Q1 26
0.57×
Q4 25
1.32×
1.12×
Q3 25
1.49×
1.66×
Q2 25
1.35×
1.63×
Q1 25
0.79×
0.92×
Q4 24
1.29×
1.35×
Q3 24
1.57×
1.73×
Q2 24
1.49×
2.11×

Financial Flow Comparison

Revenue → gross profit → operating profit → net profit for each company.

Revenue Breakdown by Segment

ANET
ANET

Products$2.1B84%
Services$392.1M16%

CSCO
CSCO

Networking$8.3B54%
Services$3.7B24%
Security$2.0B13%
Collaboration$1.1B7%
Observability$277.0M2%

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