Erik Isakson
Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) appears to be the likely networking partner for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) massive model training cluster that will be powered by more than 100,000 GPUs, according to Evercore ISI.
Arista shares popped 4% during late afternoon trading on Thursday.
Yesterday, it was reported Meta is “putting the final touches” on a training cluster featuring more than 100,000 of Nvidia’s (NASDAQ:NVDA) H100s, according to The Information. The cluster will train Meta’s Llama 4 large language model and will feature $2B worth of chips.
The cluster will be networked using Ethernet, since InfiniBand is incapable of handling clusters of this magnitude. This leads Evercore to surmise Arista Networks will likely be providing some of the infrastructure.
“Assuming GPU’s represent 80% of total spend on this AI cluster, this would imply total cost of around $2.5B, of which 10% is likely spent on infrastructure,” said Evercore analyst Amit Daryanani, in a Thursday note. “This could represent a $250M revenue opportunity for Arista, if they won the business.”
Evercore notes that Meta previously used Arista switches to network a cluster of 24,000 GPUs.
“Arista has a strong relationship with Meta, so we think it is likely they are providing the switches infrastructure for this cluster,” Daryanani added.
If secured, this deal has the potential to add upside to Arista’s $750M AI revenue target in calendar year 2025.
Evercore maintains an Outperform rating on Arista and a $400 price target.
