Sandisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) Shares Up 4.8% – Still a Buy?

Sandisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) rose 4.8% on Tuesday. The stock traded as high as $1,153.19 and last traded at $1,126.52. 8,278,657 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average session volume of 14,739,916 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,075.08.

Sandisk News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Sandisk this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investors rotated back into semiconductor and memory shares after recent losses, helping lift the sector. Sandisk also continues to benefit from AI data-center demand and multiyear supply commitments; one report cited a $93.9 billion long-term revenue pipeline. Why memory stocks are rising
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s latest quarter beat estimates and included raised guidance, with reported revenue of $11.03 billion and strong margins. A Seeking Alpha analysis argues that customer commitments and cash generation support the business despite the share-price volatility. Sandisk: Priced For The AI Apocalypse
• Neutral Sentiment: Sandisk’s announced 8-for-1 stock split is approaching. A split changes the number of shares and per-share price, but does not by itself change the company’s value or make the stock more attractive. Should You Buy Sandisk Stock Before Nov. 20?
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the earnings beat, the shares have faced a sharp post-results sell-off. Investors may have expected an even larger beat, and commentary has raised concerns that AI data-center spending or the memory-price recovery could slow. Is Sandisk’s Incredible Run About to End?

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SNDK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Arete Research upped their target price on shares of Sandisk from $2,300.00 to $3,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price target on shares of Sandisk from $1,900.00 to $1,400.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. UBS Group restated an “overweight” rating and set a $1,750.00 price target on shares of Sandisk in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $3,100.00 price objective (up from $1,400.00) on shares of Sandisk in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Sandisk from $1,600.00 to $1,400.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $2,056.23.

Sandisk Trading Up 4.8%

The company has a market capitalization of $162.81 billion, a PE ratio of 9.03, a PEG ratio of 0.14 and a beta of 5.23. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,547.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,254.27.

Sandisk shares are set to split on the morning of Friday, November 20th. The 8-1 split was announced on Thursday, October 29th. The newly created shares will be issued to shareholders after the market closes on Thursday, November 19th.

Sandisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The data storage provider reported $49.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $46.19 by $3.32. Sandisk had a net margin of 56.47% and a return on equity of 87.84%. The firm had revenue of $11.03 billion during the quarter. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Sandisk Corporation will post 210.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sandisk declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, August 5th that permits the company to buy back $14 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the data storage provider to purchase up to 6.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Luis Visoso sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,568.83, for a total value of $1,568,830.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 130,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $205,479,078.08. This represents a 0.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Alper Ilkbahar sold 4,712 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,540.58, for a total value of $7,259,212.96. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 44,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,991,957.72. This trade represents a 9.65% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 77,299 shares of company stock worth $120,461,826. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sandisk

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SNDK. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sandisk in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $23,408,732,000. Situational Awareness LP increased its holdings in Sandisk by 42.4% in the 2nd quarter. Situational Awareness LP now owns 2,495,344 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $5,673,739,000 after purchasing an additional 743,325 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Sandisk in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,621,353,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Sandisk in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,564,901,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Sandisk in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,413,917,000.

About Sandisk

SanDisk Corporation offers flash storage solutions. The Company designs, develops and manufactures data storage solutions in a range of form factors using flash memory, controller, firmware and software technologies. The Company operates through flash memory storage products segment. Its solutions include a range of solid state drives (SSD), embedded products, removable cards, universal serial bus (USB), drives, wireless media drives, digital media players, and wafers and components. It offers SSDs for client computing applications, which encompass desktop computers, notebook computers, tablets and other computing devices.