Arista Networks closed fiscal 2025 with 28.6% revenue growth and a 39% net margin, while Intel posted a net loss and negative free cash flow during its foundry-focused turnaround. The contrast in profitability, cash generation and valuation is driving the debate over which technology stock is the better buy for 2026.
Arista Networks enters 2026 ahead of Intel on nearly every profitability measure, while Intel's turnaround has yet to show up in its earnings.
Arista's networking business keeps compounding
Arista sells networking platforms built around its Extensible Operating System for cloud and artificial-intelligence data centers. In fiscal 2025, revenue reached nearly $9.0 billion, marking growth of about 28.6% from the prior year, with net income of roughly $3.5 billion, a net margin near 39%.
The company's balance sheet carried a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.0x and a current ratio of about 3.0x as of December 2025, and it generated roughly $4.3 billion in free cash flow during the year. Two major customers, however, accounted for roughly 16% and 26% of Arista's revenue in 2025, a concentration risk the company has weathered without it derailing growth so far.
Intel's foundry turnaround shows a net loss
Intel designs and manufactures computing technology for PCs, data centers, and its foundry segment, serving OEMs and cloud providers. In fiscal 2025, revenue was nearly $52.9 billion, a slight decrease of approximately 0.5% from the prior year, and the company reported a net loss of roughly $267.0 million, a negative net margin near 0.5%.
The company's debt-to-equity ratio stood at 0.4x with a current ratio of about 2.0x, while stock-based compensation made up roughly 25.1% of operating cash flow and free cash flow was negative, at about -$4.9 billion. Intel is also contesting legal proceedings over an agreement that gave the U.S. government a 10% equity stake in the firm.
Valuation splits on hope versus results
Intel trades at a lower price-to-sales ratio than Arista, 9.7x versus 26.4x within the broader stock market, though its forward P/E of 68.4x is higher than Arista's 46.9x on expectations for future earnings recovery.
According to Seena Hassouna of The Motley Fool, she would buy Arista, calling it: "a business that's already delivering, not one still trying to prove the thesis works", in her comparison of the two stocks.
Source: The Motley Fool
Trading involves risk.
Risk Disclaimer
