Why We Flagged ANET but Only Watched NFLX
How did Arista Networks (ANET) and Netflix (NFLX) fare under JumpstartSignal's 5-stage screening pipeline across our full 2012–2025 walk-forward backtest? We flagged ANET 6 times (15 signal days, first signal in 2016) and NFLX 27 times (505 signal days, first signal in 2013). Every entry price, return, and SPY comparison below is from the frozen backtest snapshot.
📌 Note: NFLX only ever reached our MONITOR watchlist tier, it was never promoted to a SPOTLIGHT or OPPORTUNITY buy signal. ANET did reach SPOTLIGHT or OPPORTUNITY. That asymmetry is the story of this comparison.
Head-to-Head Stats
ANET 🏆 SPOTLIGHT Arista Networks · Technology
NFLX 📌 MONITOR Netflix · Communication Services
Per-Signal Returns
Each bar below shows the best return from one signal cluster, held from the entry date through Feb 1, 2026. The SPY return over the same period is shown alongside each entry, alpha is the gap between the two.
ANET Signal Clusters
| Entry Date | Entry Price | Return | SPY Return | Alpha vs SPY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 10, 2016 | $5.37 | +2540% | +267% | +2272% |
| Oct 19, 2021 | $24.13 | +487% | +60% | +428% |
| Dec 16, 2021 | $32.53 | +336% | +56% | +280% |
| Nov 1, 2023 | $52.71 | +169% | +67% | +102% |
| May 20, 2024 | $75.36 | +88% | +33% | +55% |
| Aug 30, 2024 | $88.34 | +60% | +24% | +36% |
NFLX Signal Clusters
| Entry Date | Entry Price | Return | SPY Return | Alpha vs SPY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 21, 2013 | $5.07 | +1547% | +386% | +1161% |
| Nov 25, 2013 | $5.00 | +1570% | +369% | +1201% |
| Jan 29, 2014 | $5.72 | +1360% | +375% | +985% |
| Jul 7, 2014 | $6.33 | +1219% | +323% | +896% |
| Aug 7, 2014 | $6.37 | +1211% | +332% | +879% |
| Oct 6, 2014 | $6.59 | +1167% | +331% | +836% |
| Mar 5, 2015 | $6.68 | +1150% | +292% | +857% |
| Dec 2, 2016 | $11.92 | +600% | +261% | +340% |
| Jun 23, 2017 | $15.75 | +430% | +223% | +207% |
| Jul 27, 2017 | $17.84 | +368% | +218% | +150% |
| Aug 30, 2017 | $17.45 | +378% | +219% | +159% |
| Jan 9, 2018 | $20.93 | +299% | +183% | +116% |
| Feb 5, 2018 | $24.95 | +235% | +197% | +37% |
| Apr 11, 2018 | $30.37 | +175% | +194% | -19% |
| May 7, 2018 | $32.63 | +156% | +190% | -34% |
| Jun 25, 2018 | $38.45 | +117% | +184% | -67% |
| Jun 17, 2020 | $44.34 | +88% | +147% | -59% |
| Aug 26, 2020 | $52.39 | +59% | +111% | -52% |
| Oct 1, 2020 | $52.75 | +58% | +119% | -61% |
| Sep 13, 2021 | $57.54 | +45% | +68% | -23% |
| Nov 9, 2023 | $43.52 | +92% | +63% | +29% |
| Dec 1, 2023 | $45.99 | +82% | +53% | +29% |
| May 8, 2024 | $60.95 | +37% | +36% | +2% |
| Aug 16, 2024 | $67.41 | +24% | +26% | -2% |
| Nov 25, 2024 | $86.56 | -4% | +16% | -20% |
| Jan 22, 2025 | $95.40 | -12% | +14% | -27% |
| Mar 5, 2025 | $95.00 | -12% | +22% | -34% |
What This Teaches
Signal frequency is not opinion; it's the pipeline firing or not firing against the same rules. Over the 2012–2025 window, NFLX triggered entries 27× versus 6× for ANET. The lesson here isn't that one company is better than the other; it's that the template is tuned for a specific kind of setup and this pair shows which stock's price behaviour kept offering that setup.
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FAQ
Did JumpstartSignal ever buy NFLX?
No. NFLX only ever cleared our weekly MONITOR tier, a watchlist of stocks matching some but not all of our buy criteria. MONITOR signals are published for research context, not executed as trades; only SPOTLIGHT and OPPORTUNITY signals enter the backtested portfolio. ANET, by contrast, did reach SPOTLIGHT or OPPORTUNITY in our pipeline; that asymmetry is the core story of this page.
Is ANET or NFLX a better momentum stock?
In our 14-year backtest, ANET had an average alpha of +529% per signal versus +277% for NFLX. ANET produced 6 SPOTLIGHT or OPPORTUNITY buy-signal clusters vs 27 MONITOR watchlist clusters for NFLX. Note the tier difference: MONITOR clusters are watchlist-only and were never promoted to buy signals, so cluster counts are not directly comparable across tiers.
When did JumpstartSignal first flag ANET?
Nov 10, 2016 at an entry price of $5.37 (SPOTLIGHT or OPPORTUNITY buy signal). That signal has returned +2540% held to the snapshot date, versus +267% for SPY over the same period.
When did JumpstartSignal first flag NFLX?
Oct 21, 2013 at an entry price of $5.07 (MONITOR watchlist tier only). That signal has returned +1547% held to the snapshot date, versus +386% for SPY.
Does this mean one stock is a buy and the other isn't?
No. Historical signal frequency and past returns are not buy recommendations. Our pipeline identifies entries that would have matched the template historically. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Use these pages as methodology research, not investment advice.
Where does the underlying data come from?
All entries on this page come from the R30 walk-forward validated backtest covering 2012–2025 (the 'seo_active' snapshot in our golden archive). Entry prices, returns, and SPY comparisons are computed from Stooq end-of-day OHLCV and frozen at snapshot time. See our methodology for details.