SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK): Q2 Earnings Preview 2011

SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK), the world's largest flash-memory device maker, is scheduled to release its first-quarter earnings after the closing bell on Thursday, July 21, 2011. Analysts, on average, expect the company to report earnings of 99 cents per share on revenue of $1.34 billion. In the year ago period, the company reported earnings of $1.08 per share on revenue of $1.18 billion.

SanDisk Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and markets NAND-based flash storage card products that are used in various consumer electronics products. The company has beaten estimates the last four quarters. Revenue has climbed in the past four quarters.

In the preceding first-quarter, the Milpitas, California-based company's net income was $224 million, or 92 cents per share, compared to $235 million or $0.99 per share, in the year-ago quarter.  On an adjusted basis, the company earned $1.03 a share in the first quarter. Revenue increased 19 percent to $1.29 billion from $1.09 billion in the same quarter last year. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of 99 cents per share on revenue of $1.26 billion billion.

At its last earnings call in April, the company said that it expects second quarter total revenue to be between $1.3 billion and $1.35 billion. The company expects second quarter gross margin percentage to be similar to the first quarter

For the full year 2011, the company expects healthy supply demand balance in the industry. SanDisk's revenue forecast for 2011 is $5.3 billion to $5.7 billion, including license and royalty revenues similar to slightly higher than in 2010. The company raised its non-GAAP product gross margin range to 37% to 40%, compared to the previous range of 35% to 38%. SanDisk also lifted its total non-GAAP gross margin range to 41% to 44% compared to the previous range of 39% to 42%.

Global demand for flash memory has continued to remain strong, thanks to the introduction of a wide array of new handheld devices like smartphones, tablets, e-books. Analysts have noted that its stock is linked somewhat to Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL), because Apple is such a voracious consumer of flash, which is found in iPads, iPhones and iPods. SanDisk sells removable flash-memory cards and supplies memory chips to Apple Inc., whose iPad, iPhone and iPod all use so-called Nand flash as their main storage for music and data. Apple’s new MacBook Air laptop, introduced in October 2010, also uses flash memory in lieu of a traditional hard-disk drive. SanDisk said in december that more computer makers are going to follow Apple Inc.'s example and offer machines with only solid state drives in the future, a transition that will benefit the flash-memory maker. Already, companies like EMC (NYSE: EMC) and IBM (NYSE: IBM) have thrown weight behind the technology. 

Moreover, SanDisk is also exploring the enterprise potential of SSDs. The enterprise solid-state-drive market is expected to post strong growth in the next few years. Gartner projects revenue for the market to grow from $994 million in 2010 to $4.2 billion in 2015. In May, SanDisk agreed to acquire Pliant Technology, Inc., a developer of enterprise solid state drives, for about $327 million in cash and certain equity-based incentives. SanDisk expects the transaction to be dilutive to its fiscal year 2011 adjusted earnings by 2 to 3 percent, and accretive to adjusted earnings in fiscal year 2012.

Full Disclosure: None.

SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK): Q1 Earnings Preview 2011

SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK), the world's largest flash-memory device maker, is scheduled to release its first-quarter earnings after the closing bell on Thursday, April 21, 2011. Analysts, on average, expect the company to report earnings of 99 cents per share on revenue of $1.26 billion. In the year ago period, the company reported earnings of 95 cents per share on revenue of $1.09 billion.

SanDisk Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and markets NAND-based flash storage card products that are used in various consumer electronics products.

In the preceding fourth-quarter, the Milpitas, California-based company's net income was  $485 million or $2.01 per share, compared to $340 million, or $1.45 a share, in the year-ago quarter.  On an adjusted basis, the company earned $1.27 a share in the latest quarter. Revenue increased to $1.33 billion from $1.24 billion. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of $1.09 per share on revenue of $1.31 billion.

At its last earnings call in January, the company said that it expects its first quarter retail demand to be lower sequentially due to normal seasonality, and in our OEM channels, demand continues to grow. The company expects to be supply constrained for the first quarter, in part due to the fourth quarter power outage. The company said that it anticipates that price decline in Q1 will be relatively modest, including the impact of moving to higher average capacity. The company expects Q1 total revenue to be between $1.20 billion and $1.275 billion, including license and royalty revenue similar to the fourth quarter. For the first quarter, the company expects its product gross margin percentage to be similar to the fourth quarter, including the impact of utilizing some non-captive supply.

For the full year 2011, the company expects healthy supply demand balance in the industry. SanDisk's revenue forecast for 2011 is $5.3 billion to $5.7 billion, including license and royalty revenues similar to slightly higher than in 2010. The company expects gross margin in the range of 39 percent to 42 percent.

Global demand for flash memory has continued to remain strong, thanks to the introduction of a wide array of new handheld devices like smartphones, tablets, e-books. Analysts have noted that its stock is linked somewhat to Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL), because Apple is such a voracious consumer of flash, which is found in iPads, iPhones and iPods. SanDisk sells removable flash-memory cards and supplies memory chips to Apple Inc., whose iPad, iPhone and iPod all use so-called Nand flash as their main storage for music and data. Apple’s new MacBook Air laptop, introduced in October 2010, also uses flash memory in lieu of a traditional hard-disk drive. SanDisk said in december that more computer makers are going to follow Apple Inc.'s example and offer machines with only solid state drives in the future, a transition that will benefit the flash-memory maker. Already, companies like EMC (NYSE: EMC) and IBM (NYSE: IBM) have thrown weight behind the technology. Moreover, SanDisk is also exploring the enterprise potential of SSDs. "

The company's stock currently trades at a forward P/E (fye Jan 2, 2013) of 10.94 and PEG ratio (5 yr expected) of 0.86. In terms of stock performance, SanDisk shares have gained nearly 25 percent over the past year.

Full Disclosure: None.

SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK): Q4 Earnings Preview 2010

SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK), the world's largest flash-memory device maker, is scheduled to release its fourth-quarter earnings after the closing bell on Thursday, January 27, 2011. Analysts, on average, expect the company to report earnings of $1.08 per share on revenue of $1.31 billion. In the year ago period, the company reported earnings of $1.18 per share on revenue of $1.24 billion.

SanDisk Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and markets NAND-based flash storage card products that are used in various consumer electronics products.

In the preceding third-quarter, the Milpitas, California-based company's net income was  $322.1 million, or $1.34, compared to $231.3 million, or 99 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter.  On an adjusted basis, the company earned $1.30 a share in the latest quarter. Revenue increased 32% to $1.23 billion from $935.2 million. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of $1.05 per share on revenue of $1.24 billion.

At its last earnings call in October, the company said that it expects fourth-quarter sales in the range of $1.25 billion to $1.33 billion. “For 2011, we are bullish about continuing growth in our diversified channels, including further substantial inroads for our embedded storage products in smart phones, tablet PCs and other mobile devices,” former Chief Executive Eli Harari said.

According to DRAMexchange, NAND flash memory sales is expected to grow 16 percent to reach $21.5 billion in 2011.

Global demand for flash memory has continued to remain strong, thanks to the introduction of a wide array of new handheld devices like smartphones, tablets, e-books. Analysts have noted that its stock is linked somewhat to Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL), because Apple is such a voracious consumer of flash, which is found in iPads, iPhones and iPods. SanDisk sells removable flash-memory cards and supplies memory chips to Apple Inc., whose iPad, iPhone and iPod all use so-called Nand flash as their main storage for music and data. Apple’s new MacBook Air laptop, introduced in October 2010, also uses flash memory in lieu of a traditional hard-disk drive. SanDisk said in december that more computer makers are going to follow Apple Inc.'s example and offer machines with only solid state drives in the future, a transition that will benefit the flash-memory maker. Already, companies like EMC (NYSE: EMC) and IBM (NYSE: IBM) have thrown weight behind the technology.

SanDisk is also exploring the enterprise potential of SSDs. "Enterprise requires different types of architecture, and we will be in that area," explained former CEO Harari. "Our initial focus is on the much larger market, which is netbooks, notebooks and tablets, but we [also] intend to be in the enterprise market."

Full Disclosure: None.