# How Arista Networks (ANET) compares with the whole market and its popular alternatives

> Source: EasyCompare research, https://easycompare.io/research/anet
> Data as of October 20, 2026. Total returns include reinvested dividends. Past performance does not predict future results; nothing here is investment advice.

Built by QuantCommons' quantitative engine, this page is about relative opportunity, not data on ANET alone. It places ANET (Arista Networks, Inc.) against 20+ popular alternatives, its neighboring categories and the entire market of over 10,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, and surfaces what has done better on consistent outperformance, return for the risk taken, behavior in real market crashes and diversification. The result is a clearer view of where ANET stands in the market, and of the alternatives worth a closer look.

Period covered: ANET's full trading record, from June 2014 through September 2026. The crash tests reach back to 2000 using older funds and the S&P 500. All returns include reinvested dividends. Data as of October 20, 2026.

## Key findings

- **Right now:** Not every peer went the same way. Over the past 3 months, HPE (Hewlett Packard Enterprise) rose 26.3% and NOK (Nokia Oyj) fell 10.2%. ANET has outpaced the market, rising 7.0% over the past 3 months against 3.9% for the S&P 500 and 3.2% for the Nasdaq 100.
- **Stock or market?:** ANET rose 7.0% over the past 3 months, in line with the technology sector ETF XLK (State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF), which rose 5.7%. The S&P 500 rose 3.9%. Its communications equipment peers did not move as one over the past 3 months: HPE (Hewlett Packard Enterprise) rose 26.3%, while NOK (Nokia Oyj) fell 10.2%.
- **Past 1 to 3 years:** Over the past year, ANET rose 23.7% against 15.8% for the S&P 500 and 17.9% for the Nasdaq 100. The same gap shows up over 3 years (289% against 89.3%). Even so, ANET led its communications equipment peers in 2023, then fell behind CSCO (Cisco Systems) and DELL (Dell Technologies) in 2025.
- **Long term:** ANET turned $10,000 into $354,000 over the past decade, against $42,100 in the S&P 500. ANET's 10-year return of 3,439% puts it ahead of 99% of the stocks worth at least $300 million with that much history. The S&P 500 returned 321%.
- **In a crash:** ANET fell harder than the S&P 500 in three of four sell-offs. The Covid crash was the exception: ANET fell 31.2%, less than the S&P 500's 33.7%.
- **Diversification:** Against the S&P 500, ANET has a correlation of 0.60 over 5 years, more closely than 91% of stocks worth at least $300 million. Next to an index fund it is more of the same, not a cushion.
- **Better options**
  - **Popular alternatives:** NVDA (NVIDIA) earned more than ANET over the past 5 years with similar volatility: 58.0% a year at 51.9% volatility, against 49.0% a year at 49.0%.
  - **Nearby categories and themes:** STX (Seagate Technology, computer hardware) and WDC (Western Digital, computer hardware) earned more than ANET over the past 5 years with similar volatility: STX returned 57.4% a year at 48.7% volatility, against 49.0% a year at 49.0%.
  - **Whole market:** Few investments have done better on both counts: only ten of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than ANET with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them PBR (Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras), PBR-A (Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras) and MPC (Marathon Petroleum).

## How much would $10,000 in ANET have grown?

This chart tracks a hypothetical $10,000 investment in ANET over the past 12 years, with dividends reinvested, alongside the same amount in the S&P 500, investments that ended ahead of ANET over the same span and ANET's popular alternatives, among those that traded for the entire period.

- $10,000 invested in ANET at the end of September 2014 would have grown to $368,830 by September 2026, more than the $47,240 it would have become in SPY, an S&P 500 fund.
- Five of the eight other investments on the chart ended ahead of ANET, and NVDA finished highest, at $5,214,702.

## ANET at a glance

This section summarizes the key facts about the stock, its returns over periods from one to ten years and the risk it has carried, with dividends reinvested throughout.

- ANET's deepest decline since it began trading in 2014 was 52.2%, from April 2019 to March 2020. It took 14 months from the low to climb back to its old high.
- Over 11 full calendar years, ANET's best was 2017, when it returned 143%, and its worst was 2022, when it lost 15.6%. It lost money in three of those years.
- ANET is 16.4% below its all-time high.

- Type: Stock, Technology (Computer Hardware)
- Trading since: June 6, 2014
- Market value: $229B
- Volatility (5 years): 49.0%; Sharpe ratio: 1.06
- Worst decline ever: −52.2%, from April 16, 2019 to March 16, 2020; back at its high by May 7, 2021

| Period | ANET total return |
| --- | --- |
| 1 month | −11.8% |
| 3 months | +7.0% |
| 6 months | +8.6% |
| year to date | +35.6% |
| 1 year | +23.7% |
| 3 years | +289% |
| 5 years | +634% |
| 10 years | +3,439% |

## ANET against the whole market

Where ANET ranks among every stock and fund, and what across the market has done better.

### How does ANET rank among all stocks?

This section ranks ANET on return, volatility, risk-adjusted return and worst decline against every stock worth at least $300 million with enough history.

- ANET's 10-year return ranks in the top 1% of the 2,202 stocks worth at least $300 million with 10 years of history.

| Measure | ANET | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1-year return | +23.7% | 1,145 of 3,287 (top 35%) |
| 3-year return | +289% | 237 of 3,017 (top 8%) |
| 5-year return | +634% | 47 of 2,893 (top 2%) |
| 10-year return | +3,439% | 14 of 2,202 (top 1%) |
| Volatility, 5 years | 49.0% | 1,884 of 2,893 (top 66%) |
| Sharpe ratio, 5 years | 1.06 | 68 of 2,893 (top 3%) |
| Worst decline, past 10 years | −52.2% | 541 of 2,187 (top 25%) |

### What has beaten ANET on both return and risk?

Each dot is an investment, placed by how much it earned a year over the past 5 years (higher is better) and how much its price swung, its volatility (further left is calmer).

- Ten stocks worth at least $500 million sit in the green region: each earned more than ANET over the past 5 years with smaller price swings. That is fewer than 1% of the 3,633 screened. Few investments beat it on both counts.
- Among those with at least half ANET's swings, MPC has the best return for its risk: 51.2% a year at 33.4% volatility, 32% less than ANET's 49.0%, and a Sharpe ratio (return above cash per unit of volatility) of 1.41 against 1.06 for ANET. CRS earned the most, 63.9% a year, while still swinging less than ANET (46.5% against 49.0%).

### Is there a better investment than ANET?

The table below lists investments that beat ANET over the past 5 years on at least one of these measures: a higher annual return with lower volatility, a higher annual return at similar volatility, a similar return with lower volatility, a higher Sharpe ratio with a smaller worst decline, a higher total return in most periods from 3 months to 10 years, or smaller losses in recent market crashes.

- Among ANET's popular alternatives, NVDA earned more than ANET over the past 5 years with similar volatility: 58.0% a year at 51.9% volatility, against 49.0% a year at 49.0%.
- Looking beyond its popular alternatives, STX (computer hardware) and WDC (computer hardware) earned more than ANET over the past 5 years with similar volatility: STX returned 57.4% a year at 48.7% volatility, against 49.0% a year at 49.0%.
- Few investments have done better on both counts: only ten of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than ANET with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them PBR, PBR-A and MPC.

The 10 strongest of 10 investments that beat ANET over the past 5 years, out of 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million.

| Investment | Group | Annual return (5 years) | Volatility | Sharpe | Worst decline (10 years) | 10Y return | Correlation with ANET | Better on |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ANET: Arista Networks, Inc. (this page) |  | +49.0% | 49.0% | 1.06 | −52.2% | +3,439% |  |  |
| ATI: ATI Inc. | Metals & Mining | +61.8% | 42.9% | 1.34 | −82.4% | +929% | -0.05 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| [MPC](https://easycompare.io/research/mpc): Marathon Petroleum Corporation | Oil & Gas | +51.2% | 33.4% | 1.41 | −79.7% | +1,387% | 0.06 | Higher return, lower volatility |
| [PBR-A](https://easycompare.io/research/pbr-a): Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras | Integrated Oil & Gas | +51.8% | 37.5% | 1.31 | −71.7% | +768% | 0.02 | Higher return, lower volatility |
| CRS: Carpenter Technology Corporation | Metals & Mining | +63.9% | 46.5% | 1.30 | −74.7% | +1,021% | 0.06 | Higher return, lower volatility |
| [PBR](https://easycompare.io/research/pbr): Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras | Integrated Oil & Gas | +50.3% | 37.5% | 1.28 | −75.3% | +674% | -0.02 | Higher return, lower volatility |
| INSW: International Seaways, Inc. | Oil & Gas | +56.5% | 40.5% | 1.31 | −57.4% | — | 0.04 | Higher return, lower volatility |
| FTI: TechnipFMC plc | Oilfield Services | +54.1% | 41.3% | 1.26 | −85.8% | +178% | 0.02 | Higher return, lower volatility |
| TRMD: TORM plc | Marine Shipping | +54.3% | 45.9% | 1.18 | −60.6% | — | 0.19 | Higher return, lower volatility |
| TNK: Teekay Tankers Ltd. | Marine Shipping | +50.5% | 45.1% | 1.14 | −63.4% | +490% | 0.06 | Higher return, lower volatility |
| LPG: Dorian LPG Ltd. | Oil & Gas Midstream | +54.6% | 43.6% | 1.22 | −62.9% | +1,821% | 0.06 | Higher return, lower volatility |

## ANET against its popular alternatives

The investments people most often weigh against ANET, compared period by period and year by year.

### How do ANET's risk and return compare with its alternatives?

This map plots each investment's annual return over the past 5 years against its volatility, the size of its typical price swings.

- None of the 20 popular alternatives earned more than ANET over the past 5 years with smaller price swings, so every higher return on the map came with a bumpier ride.
- Over the past 5 years, ANET returned 49.0% a year, more than the S&P 500's 12.7%, with higher volatility (49.0% against 17.1%).

### Has ANET consistently beaten its popular alternatives?

This section compares ANET with the investments people most often weigh against it, checking each one over eight periods from one month to ten years.

- DELL outperformed ANET in every long-term period and in all but one short-term period, the most consistent record in the group.
- Only one of the 20 popular alternatives, DELL, outperformed ANET in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes.
- AVGO earned more for the risk it took than ANET (a higher Sharpe ratio) and fell less in its worst decline of the past 10 years.

| Investment | 1Y return | 3Y return | 5Y return | 10Y return | Periods ahead of ANET | Verdict | Sharpe |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ANET: Arista Networks, Inc. (this page) | +23.7% | +289% | +634% | +3,439% |  |  | 1.06 |
| [DELL](https://easycompare.io/research/dell): Dell Technologies Inc. | +217% | +636% | +800% | +3,701% | 4/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term | all-weather | 1.08 |
| [NVDA](https://easycompare.io/research/nvda): NVIDIA Corporation | +18.8% | +425% | +884% | +13,019% | 1/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term |  | 1.14 |
| [LITE](https://easycompare.io/research/lite): Lumentum Holdings Inc. | +411% | +2,029% | +863% | +1,904% | 2/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 1.03 |
| AAOI: Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. | +125% | +1,011% | +936% | +270% | 2/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 0.97 |
| [MRVL](https://easycompare.io/research/mrvl): Marvell Technology, Inc. | +181% | +390% | +264% | +1,874% | 5/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.72 |
| [CIEN](https://easycompare.io/research/cien): Ciena Corporation | +97.5% | +721% | +546% | +1,600% | 3/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.97 |
| VIAV: Viavi Solutions Inc. | +164% | +359% | +127% | +376% | 3/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.58 |
| UI: Ubiquiti Inc. | −17.3% | +434% | +95.9% | +1,194% | 2/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.52 |
| [AVGO](https://easycompare.io/research/avgo): Broadcom Inc. | −3.5% | +305% | +617% | +2,380% | 1/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 1.11 |
| [COHR](https://easycompare.io/research/cohr): Coherent, Inc. | +92.8% | +648% | +295% | +795% | 1/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.75 |
| [HPE](https://easycompare.io/research/hpe): Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company | +150% | +296% | +315% | +483% | 5/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.89 |
| FFIV: F5, Inc. | +54.0% | +208% | +120% | +287% | 5/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.67 |
| [CSCO](https://easycompare.io/research/csco): Cisco Systems, Inc. | +53.8% | +118% | +118% | +374% | 4/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.73 |
| [MSFT](https://easycompare.io/research/msft): Microsoft Corporation | +3.8% | +66.6% | +80.3% | +946% | 3/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.56 |
| EXTR: Extreme Networks, Inc. | +8.7% | +6.4% | +117% | +445% | 2/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.56 |
| [META](https://easycompare.io/research/meta): Meta Platforms, Inc. | −4.9% | +127% | +106% | +439% | 2/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.55 |
| ERIC: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) | +15.6% | +164% | +8.9% | +161% | 2/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.23 |
| [NOK](https://easycompare.io/research/nok): Nokia Oyj | +60.8% | +211% | +72.8% | +123% | 2/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.47 |
| NTGR: NETGEAR, Inc. | −30.0% | +109% | −30.7% | −29.3% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.06 |
| ADTN: ADTRAN Holdings Inc. | −28.3% | −8.7% | −61.3% | −59.8% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | -0.05 |

### How did ANET do year by year?

This table shows each investment's total return in every full calendar year since 2015, along with where ANET ranked among its popular alternatives each year.

- ANET finished ahead of the S&P 500 in nine of its 11 full calendar years, and ahead of it in each of the last six.
- Ranked against its popular alternatives each year, ANET finished in the top quarter in four of 11 years and in the bottom quarter in no. In 2025, it ranked 11 of 21.
- Among its popular alternatives, NVDA came out ahead of ANET most often, in eight of the 11 years both traded.

| Year | ANET | SPY |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2025 | +18.6% | +17.7% |
| 2024 | +87.7% | +24.9% |
| 2023 | +94.1% | +26.2% |
| 2022 | −15.6% | −18.2% |
| 2021 | +97.9% | +28.7% |
| 2020 | +42.9% | +18.3% |
| 2019 | −3.5% | +31.2% |
| 2018 | −10.5% | −4.6% |
| 2017 | +143% | +21.7% |
| 2016 | +24.2% | +12.0% |

## Risk and diversification

How ANET has fallen, how it held up in crashes beside the S&P 500 and its popular alternatives, and what moves independently of it.

### What were ANET's worst declines?

A drawdown is the decline from a peak to the lowest point before a new high.

- In all five of ANET's worst declines, the S&P 500 held up better over the same dates.
- Not every decline was the market's doing: ANET fell 43.2% from September 2014 to February 2016, while the S&P 500 slipped only 3.7%.
- The longest climb back to a previous high took 14 months, after ANET fell 52.2% from April 2019 to March 2020.

| Decline | Peak | Low | Back at the high | SPY over the same dates | Market event |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| −52.2% | April 16, 2019 | March 16, 2020 | May 7, 2021 | −16.1% | Covid crash |
| −50.4% | January 22, 2025 | April 4, 2025 | August 6, 2025 | −16.4% |  |
| −43.2% | September 29, 2014 | February 9, 2016 | November 21, 2016 | −3.7% | 2015 China and oil sell-off |
| −38.8% | August 24, 2018 | December 24, 2018 | March 21, 2019 | −17.6% | late-2018 sell-off |
| −38.4% | December 27, 2021 | June 16, 2022 | March 8, 2023 | −22.9% | 2022 bear market |

### How did ANET do in stock market crashes?

This section measures how far ANET, the S&P 500 and each alternative fell from peak to trough during every major market crash since 2000.

- Among its popular alternatives, CSCO held up best, falling less than ANET in five of the six crashes they both traded through.
- ANET began trading after the 2008 financial crisis, but 13 of its popular alternatives lived through it. The mildest fall among them was ADTN's 52.3%, against 55.2% for the S&P 500.
- ANET fell further than the S&P 500 in three of the six crashes it has traded through. The clearest case was the 2015 China and oil sell-off, when ANET fell 36.6% and the S&P 500 fell 12.8%.

| Crash | Dates | ANET fall | SPY fall |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Dot-com bust | March 10, 2000 to October 9, 2002 | not trading | −47.5% |
| Global financial crisis | October 9, 2007 to March 9, 2009 | not trading | −55.2% |
| Flash crash | May 6, 2010 to May 7, 2010 | not trading | −1.5% |
| Euro debt crisis | July 22, 2011 to October 3, 2011 | not trading | −17.9% |
| China devaluation & oil rout | August 10, 2015 to February 11, 2016 | −36.6% | −12.8% |
| Volmageddon | February 2, 2018 to February 9, 2018 | −6.1% | −6.5% |
| Q4 2018 selloff | September 21, 2018 to December 24, 2018 | −31.2% | −19.3% |
| COVID crash | February 19, 2020 to March 23, 2020 | −31.2% | −33.7% |
| 2022 bear market | January 4, 2022 to October 12, 2022 | −36.6% | −24.5% |
| SVB / regional bank stress | March 8, 2023 to March 13, 2023 | −1.5% | −3.4% |

### How closely does ANET move with the S&P 500?

Upside capture measures how much of the S&P 500's gains an investment kept in the months the market rose, and downside capture how much of its losses it took in the months the market fell.

- Over the past 10 years, ANET captured 174% of the S&P 500's gains in rising months and 91% of its losses in falling months, with a beta of 1.40. Its share of the market's gains was larger than its share of the losses.
- Only DELL and CIEN had a higher capture ratio (upside capture divided by downside capture) than ANET's 1.92, out of 20 popular alternatives with the same record.
- DELL took just 43% of the S&P 500's losses, against 91% for ANET, while still keeping 154% of its gains.

Measured over the past 10 years of monthly returns against SPY.

| Investment | Upside capture | Downside capture | Beta |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ANET: Arista Networks, Inc. (this page) | 174% | 91.0% | 1.40 |
| [DELL](https://easycompare.io/research/dell): Dell Technologies Inc. | 154% | 43.0% | 1.13 |
| [NVDA](https://easycompare.io/research/nvda): NVIDIA Corporation | 248% | 140% | 1.83 |
| [LITE](https://easycompare.io/research/lite): Lumentum Holdings Inc. | 162% | 101% | 1.24 |
| AAOI: Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. | 169% | 221% | 2.83 |
| [MRVL](https://easycompare.io/research/mrvl): Marvell Technology, Inc. | 167% | 116% | 1.68 |
| [CIEN](https://easycompare.io/research/cien): Ciena Corporation | 129% | 64.0% | 1.07 |
| VIAV: Viavi Solutions Inc. | 98.0% | 76.0% | 0.97 |
| UI: Ubiquiti Inc. | 150% | 125% | 1.35 |
| [AVGO](https://easycompare.io/research/avgo): Broadcom Inc. | 158% | 86.0% | 1.19 |
| [COHR](https://easycompare.io/research/cohr): Coherent, Inc. | 162% | 146% | 1.80 |
| [HPE](https://easycompare.io/research/hpe): Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company | 116% | 102% | 1.31 |
| FFIV: F5, Inc. | 87.0% | 84.0% | 1.04 |
| [CSCO](https://easycompare.io/research/csco): Cisco Systems, Inc. | 101% | 96.0% | 0.97 |
| [MSFT](https://easycompare.io/research/msft): Microsoft Corporation | 127% | 91.0% | 0.96 |
| EXTR: Extreme Networks, Inc. | 144% | 172% | 1.88 |
| [META](https://easycompare.io/research/meta): Meta Platforms, Inc. | 134% | 143% | 1.25 |
| ERIC: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) | 73.0% | 108% | 0.71 |
| [NOK](https://easycompare.io/research/nok): Nokia Oyj | 63.0% | 72.0% | 1.01 |
| NTGR: NETGEAR, Inc. | 45.0% | 124% | 1.02 |
| ADTN: ADTRAN Holdings Inc. | 47.0% | 150% | 1.46 |

### What diversifies ANET?

Correlation measures how closely two investments move together, on a scale from 1 (in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to -1 (in opposite directions).

- Moving a fifth of the money in ANET into MPC would have cut the portfolio's volatility by 17% over the past 5 years and raised its annual return (+56.8% for ANET alone, +58.0% for the mix).
- Among large ETFs, LVHI, DXJ and EMLP have moved largely independently of ANET over the past 5 years, with correlations of 0.19 or lower, and each still earned a positive 5-year return.
- XLE made money in two of the three calendar years in which ANET lost money.

| Investment | Correlation with ANET | 5Y return | Volatility | Sharpe | Rose in ANET's 3 down years |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LVHI: Franklin International Low Volatility High Dividend Index ETF | 0.05 | +119% | 11.1% | 1.48 | 2 of 3 |
| DXJ: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | 0.19 | +225% | 19.1% | 1.34 | 2 of 3 |
| EMLP: First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund | 0.16 | +101% | 14.5% | 1.04 | 2 of 3 |
| HDV: iShares Core High Dividend ETF | 0.11 | +83.3% | 13.0% | 1.00 | 2 of 3 |
| DBEF: Xtrackers MSCI EAFE Hedged Equity ETF | 0.35 | +85.0% | 13.8% | 0.96 | 1 of 3 |
| [GLD](https://easycompare.io/research/gld): SPDR Gold Shares | 0.02 | +126% | 18.9% | 0.96 | 1 of 3 |
| [XLE](https://easycompare.io/research/xle): State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF | -0.06 | +177% | 25.5% | 0.93 | 2 of 3 |
| DFIV: Dimensional - International Value ETF | 0.11 | +99.4% | 16.4% | 0.93 | 0 of 3 |

## Common questions

### What was ANET's worst drawdown?

ANET's deepest decline since it began trading in 2014 was 52.2%, from April 2019 to March 2020. It took 14 months from the low to climb back to its old high. Because ANET launched in June 2014, that record does not include the dot-com bust, the 2008 financial crisis or two other sell-offs.

### What were ANET's best and worst years?

Over 11 full calendar years, ANET's best year was 2017, when it returned 143%. Its worst was 2022, with a return of -15.6%.

### Is there a better investment than ANET?

Among ANET's popular alternatives, NVDA earned more than ANET over the past 5 years with similar volatility: 58.0% a year at 51.9% volatility, against 49.0% a year at 49.0%. Looking beyond its popular alternatives, STX (computer hardware) and WDC (computer hardware) earned more than ANET over the past 5 years with similar volatility: STX returned 57.4% a year at 48.7% volatility, against 49.0% a year at 49.0%.

### Is ANET more volatile than the S&P 500?

Yes. ANET's volatility over the past 5 years was 49.0%, 2.9 times the S&P 500's 17.1%. Volatility measures how widely returns swing around their average: in roughly two years out of three, ANET's return lands within 49.0% of its average, either way. The higher it is, the rougher the ride and the harder it is to hold through a slump.

### What is ANET's Sharpe ratio?

ANET's Sharpe ratio over the past 5 years was 1.06, against 0.79 for the S&P 500, so ANET earned more for each unit of risk than an index fund did. The Sharpe ratio is the return earned above cash for each unit of volatility: two investments with the same return are not equal if one got there with far bigger swings.

### How correlated is ANET with the S&P 500?

Over the past 5 years, ANET's monthly returns had a correlation of 0.60 with the S&P 500. Correlation runs from 1 (moving in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to −1 (moving in opposite directions). They often move together: some diversification next to an index fund, but not a cushion. In the table, the correlation column measures each option against ANET instead: the lower it is, the more that option would diversify a ANET holding.

### What are the best alternatives to ANET?

Of the 20 popular alternatives we compared, one outperformed ANET in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes, with dividends reinvested: DELL.

### Did ANET outperform the S&P 500?

ANET finished ahead of the S&P 500 (SPY) in nine of 11 full calendar years. In 2025, it returned +18.5%, against +17.7% for the index.

### How did ANET do in stock market crashes?

ANET fell less than the S&P 500 (SPY) in two of the six major crashes it has traded through, and further in three. The clearest case was the 2015 China and oil sell-off, when ANET fell 36.6% and the S&P 500 fell 12.8%.

### What diversifies ANET?

These had a low correlation with ANET over the past 5 years and still earned a positive 5-year return: among large ETFs, LVHI (correlation 0.05), DXJ (correlation 0.19) and EMLP (correlation 0.16); among large stocks, CAH (correlation -0.02), CLS (correlation 0.41) and MCK (correlation -0.02). A correlation near zero means the two have moved largely independently.

## More research

- [Dell Technologies (DELL) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/dell)
- [NVIDIA (NVDA) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/nvda)
- [Lumentum (LITE) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/lite)
- [Marvell Technology (MRVL) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/mrvl)
- [Ciena (CIEN) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/cien)
- [Broadcom (AVGO) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/avgo)
- [Coherent (COHR) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/cohr)
- [Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/hpe)
- [Cisco Systems (CSCO) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/csco)
- [Microsoft (MSFT) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/msft)
- [Meta Platforms (META) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/meta)
- [Nokia Oyj (NOK) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/nok)

## Explore further

- Full page with charts: https://easycompare.io/research/anet
- All research pages: https://easycompare.io/llms.txt
- Compare the entire market against ANET live: https://betterthanspy.com/?b=ANET&utm_source=easycompare&utm_medium=research