Arista Networks posted revenue of $155.5 million for the quarter ending Sept. 30, a 53 percent increase from third quarter 2013, the company announced today.

Despite those results, company stock dropped sharply in after-hours trading — down $7.85 (9%) to $79.40 — on news that lock-ups of some employee-held stock would be lifted on Nov. 11, potentially dumping an estimated $5.5 million worth of shares on the market a month earlier than previously anticipated.

"The flagship Arista 7500E spine and X-Series spline products continue to drive our customer demand," Arista CEO Jayshree Ullal said in a statement, referring to the company's data center network switches.

The company's third quarter GAAP net income was $21.9 million, or 30 cents per share. Non-GAAP earnings of 40 cents per share beat the consensus expectation of 28 cents. Arista projects revenues of $160 million to $168 million for the current quarter.

On a call with investors, Ullal cautioned that Arista is unlikely to aggressively expand from data centers into adjacent business verticals in the short term. "While we have looked at adjacencies, our maniacal focus is on the data center," said Ullal. "This is such a huge opportunity."

Explaining the decision to lift the lock-up for some employee-owned shares ahead of schedule, Ullal said that the original release date of Dec. 2 would offer too tight a window for employees seeking liquidity before the tax year ends.

Since going public in June, Arista has seen a number of high-profile departures from the executive team. Doug Gourlay, VP of systems engineering, left last month to explore other options. Ullal also revealed on the call that David Watkins, Arista's former regional director of EMEA, had recently departed.

"We would rather they explore other things than vest and rest," said Ullal. "I think it was an extremely amicable parting."