Reported by NUPIAO News
On August 13, Eastern Time, SanDisk used its Investor Day to lay out its long-term growth strategy and sustainable financial model. CFO Luis Visoso made a standout commitment: after wrapping up business investments over the next three years, the company plans to hand back 100% of its remaining cash to shareholders.
The market loved what it heard. SanDisk shares soared as much as 17.6% intraday, closing at $1,528.11—up a whopping 13.67%—pushing the market cap to $223.1 billion. The stock kept climbing another 2.73% in after-hours trading.
Chairman and CEO David Goeckeler summed it up this way: “Our strong results today are the direct outcome of the strategy we rolled out 18 months ago. Decades of NAND flash expertise, system-level know-how, a broad product lineup, capital-efficient operations, and full control over the tech stack—that’s what sets us apart.”
SanDisk sees AI adoption accelerating the shift in storage interfaces, fueling demand for memory tech that can iterate quickly. With its CBA (CMOS directly bonded to array) technology, the company has rolled out a 2D scaling roadmap that it says enables cost-effective development of custom derivative products. The new BiCS9 QLC is the first fruit of this approach—it pairs the proven BiCS8 memory array with a BiCS10-based CMOS wafer, delivering the high performance AI workloads demand while keeping manufacturing capital-efficient.
On top of that, SanDisk is pushing ahead with bit density gains. Its upcoming BiCS10 QLC process node, for instance, delivers 60% higher bit density than BiCS8.
Executives also highlighted how AI inference workloads, with their massive token calls, are reshaping storage hierarchies through KV caching. Demand from AI data centers is expected to explode—by 2030, the enterprise data center flash market is projected to hit 1.2 zettabytes.
SanDisk also talked up its New Business Model (NBM), built on committed purchase volumes, legally binding contracts with minimum financial guarantees, and structured pricing. This approach aligns customer demand with SanDisk’s capacity planning, smoothing out the bumps of traditional industry cycles.
NBM is now the core of SanDisk’s business. Eight customers have already signed on, representing roughly 50% of total bit shipments for fiscal 2027 and about two-thirds for fiscal 2028.
SanDisk unveiled its full multi-year financial framework for fiscal 2028 through 2030. During this period, the company expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high double-digit clip, in line with bit shipment growth. Non-GAAP gross margin is projected to hold around 80%, with non-GAAP operating margin around 75%. That assumes operating expenses stay at roughly 5% of revenue, with no major swings from other income or losses. After taxes, capital expenditures, and working capital needs, SanDisk sees adjusted free cash flow margin landing near 50%.
That’s the backdrop for the 100% cash return pledge. “Our confidence in this financial model’s sustainability comes from our multi-year NBM agreements, which are built on deep collaboration with customers,” Visoso explained.
Just days earlier, on August 5, SanDisk reported its fiscal Q4 2026 and full-year results. Q4 revenue hit $8.97 billion—up 51% sequentially and 372% year over year. GAAP net income came in at $6.90 billion (diluted EPS of $43.97), versus a $23 million loss the prior year. Roughly one-third of the sequential growth came from higher unit shipments, with the rest driven by price increases.
Q4 gross margin climbed to 84.6%. Data center revenue surged to $2.98 billion, up an eye-popping 1,298% year over year, making it the primary growth engine. Edge computing also expanded steadily, while consumer electronics saw only mild pressure. The mix is clearly tilting toward high-value AI storage.
For the full fiscal 2026, SanDisk generated $20.25 billion in revenue, up 175% year over year, with GAAP net income of $11.43 billion (diluted EPS of $73.76), reversing a $1.64 billion loss the previous year.
Looking ahead, the company guides fiscal Q1 2027 revenue between $10.3 billion and $10.8 billion, with non-GAAP diluted EPS in the $44–$46 range. Additionally, the board approved an extra $14 billion buyback program, bringing total remaining authorization to $15.5 billion.
SanDisk’s roots trace back to 1988 with the founding of SanDisk. Western Digital acquired it in 2015, and it was spun off as an independent company, listing on Nasdaq in February 2025. Just nine months after the split, it earned a spot in the S&P 500. Today, the company focuses on AI data centers, edge computing, and consumer flash storage.
The global memory chip market is in a state of structural supply-demand imbalance. TrendForce’s latest memory industry report notes that in the first half of 2026, NOR Flash and SLC NAND niche flash contract prices rose 100%–120% and 130%–150%, respectively. The supply-demand gap persists into the second half, with both expected to climb another 60%–75%. Meanwhile, mainstream TLC NAND contract prices jumped 70%–75% quarter over quarter in Q2, and DRAM rose 58%–63%—the steepest quarterly increase in nearly 15 years.
SanDisk is clearly riding this wave. Beyond the stellar financials, the stock has surged 858% in the first half of this year. Bernstein analysts raised their price target nearly 80% from $1,700 to $3,000, maintaining an “outperform” rating.
Institutional investors generally see AI creating structural storage demand, with NBM agreements helping smooth out industry cyclicality. Combined with technology leadership driving sustained high margins, the narrative shifts from boom-bust cycles to stable, sustainable earnings growth.
