Citi sees Juniper Networks and Keysight Technologies at Buy on stabilizing equipment orders

Citi initiated coverage of Arista Networks (NYSE:) and Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:) at Neutral, while Juniper Networks (NYSE:) and Keysight Technologies (NYSE:) were started at Buy in a note to clients Friday.

The firm’s analysts set a price target of $160 for ANET, $54 for CSCO, $38 for JNPR, and $200 for KEYS in the note.

The analysts stated that US communication equipment orders have “stabilized after a sharp 30% Q/Q drop in the Mar-Q,” while over the “longer-term, big data continues to drive the need for higher network capacity with 100G for enterprises, 400G for Cloud, and 800G and beyond for AI.”

“We rate JNPR Buy with a $38 TP on enterprise AI appeal and gross margin expansion. We also rate KEYS Buy with a $200 TP on attractive valuation and superior pricing power,” the analysts wrote.

“Though we like ANET in the datacenter switching market and exposure to gen AI megatrend, we are concerned that if 400G cloud spend slows further this year it could compress the stock multiple; we rate ANET Neutral. On Neutral-rated CSCO, we like growing software and defensive value appeal, though we see this offset by market share challenges in switch/security,” they added.