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SanDisk (SNDK): The Balance Between the Rise and Fall of the Memory Giant

A year ago, SanDisk was trading below $50, but yesterday it closed at $1,485. While the company is proving the strategic importance of NAND flash memory in the age of AI, the market is questioning how long this growth will last.

Striking Transformation: The Numbers Speak for Themselves

SanDisk's fourth-quarter (July 2026) financial results are the most concrete example of how the AI infrastructure explosion is impacting the NAND flash market:

• Revenue: $8.97 billion (372% year-over-year increase from $1.9 billion last year)

• Non-GAAP Gross Profit Margin: 84.6% (26.4% last year)

• Non-GAAP Earnings Per Share (EPS): $39.25 ($0.29 last year)

• Full-Year Revenue: $20.25 billion (175% year-over-year)

Source of Growth: Approximately two-thirds of revenue growth came from price increases, and one-third from volume. This is a direct result of NAND demand exceeding supply.

Data Center: The Main Engine of Growth

At the heart of SanDisk's transformation lies the data center segment. Data center revenue reached $2.98 billion in the fourth quarter, representing a 103% sequential growth.

For the full year, data center revenue reached $5.15 billion, a 437% increase year-over-year. The company's market share in the data center market increased from 12% to 38% in a year.

CEO David Goeckeler describes AI inference as a "memory-centric, storage-intensive" workload, and states that SanDisk aims to seize this opportunity with its "High Bandwidth Flash" technology.

New Business Model: Long-Term Contracts

SanDisk's most notable move in the industry is its multi-year customer agreements called the New Business Model (NBM). These contracts aim to create a shield against the historical cyclical nature of memory prices.

Size of Agreements: SanDisk expects total revenue of $93.9 billion from NBMs signed under the lowest price scenario. The company's remaining performance obligations (RPOs) were $59.8 billion at the end of the quarter; this figure increased to $91.1 billion with two agreements signed after the quarter. CFO Luis Visoso states that they expect NBM margins to be "approximately 80%".

Assurance and Commitment: Customers provided $16.5 billion in financial guarantees to protect SanDisk should it fail to meet its commitments.

Price Performance and Market Reaction

Historic Rise: SanDisk shares rose from below $50 to over $1,800 in a year. However, it experienced a pullback of approximately 40% from its peak in August.

Last Days (August 27, 2026):

• Closing: $1,484.95 (-0.96%)

• Intraday Range: $1,456 - $1,557

• After Market: $1,471 (-0.88%)

Volume and Market Position: SanDisk ranks fifth in the NAND flash market with a 13.9% market share. Chinese company YMTC increased its market share to 13% in the second quarter, intensifying competition with SanDisk.

Share Buyback: A Signal of Company Confidence

SanDisk conducted a $4.5 billion share buyback in the fourth quarter, and the board approved an additional $14 billion program, bringing the total authorization to $15.5 billion. This represents approximately 8.6% of the company's market capitalization.

Strategic Significance: CFO Luis Visoso stated that the company will "continue to conduct share buybacks on a large scale" by financing from operating cash flow.

First Quarter Guidance: The company projects revenue of $10.3–$10.8 billion and non-GAAP EPS of $44–$46 per share for the first quarter of 2027.

Market Question: Whether the explosion in memory prices is sustainable. A year ago, this business was almost at break-even with $1.9 billion in revenue, while today it generates $11 billion in net profit. Historically, memory prices are cyclical, and declines can be rapid.

SanDisk is proving the strategic importance of NAND flash memory in the age of AI with numbers. The data center-focused transformation, long-term customer agreements, and aggressive share buyback program demonstrate the company's confidence in the future. However, the historical cyclical nature of the memory sector and the stock's massive year-to-date rise remain the biggest question mark for the market.

These assessments and comments are my personal opinions. They are not investment advice.