Sandisk Reported Layoffs at Its Israel Locations. This Is an Efficiency Push, Not a Warning Sign for SNDK Stock.

SanDisk Corporation (SNDK) is having an exceptional year. The flash-memory maker is the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 Index ($SPX), with shares up 2,809% over the past year. Strong AI-related demand has pushed NAND flash prices higher and lifted SanDisk's results.

In fiscal Q4, revenue reached $8.96 billion, up 372% from a year earlier, while EPS of $38.82 beat Wall Street's $33.28 estimate. Data center revenue more than doubled from the prior quarter to $2.98 billion, and SanDisk expects up to $10.8 billion in revenue this quarter.

Still, SanDisk has reportedly laid off dozens of development employees at its R&D centers in Kfar Saba, Tefen, and Omer. Those sites employ roughly 700 people. Calcalist first reported the cuts, which reportedly surprised workers because they came only months before the planned launch of an employee stock-purchase plan. They also come as SanDisk targets roughly 80% gross margins and mid-to-high-teens revenue growth through fiscal 2030.

Layoffs are unusual when a company is growing this quickly. So, do these cuts point to a wider cost-efficiency push at SanDisk?

Financial Strength Beneath the Headlines

SanDisk makes NAND flash memory and storage products for consumer devices, businesses, and data centers. Its growing exposure to data center demand has been a major driver of the stock's rise. SNDK has gained 2,809% over the past 52 weeks and 523.4% so far this year.

Even after that run, it traded at a 7.18 times forward price-to-earnings ratio, below the sector average of 23.21 times.

The company's fiscal Q4 2026 results show why investors have taken notice. Revenue climbed 51% from the prior quarter and 372% from a year earlier to $8.97 billion. GAAP gross margin reached 84.6%, up 6.2 percentage points sequentially and 58.4 points year over year.

At the same time, GAAP operating expenses fell 1% from the prior quarter to $545 million. That helped operating income rise 71% sequentially to $7.04 billion, compared with only $18 million a year earlier.

GAAP net income came in at $6.90 billion, compared with a $23 million loss a year earlier. Diluted EPS rose to $43.97 from a loss of $0.16 per share, while non-GAAP EPS reached $39.25, up 68% from the prior quarter and well above $0.29 a year ago. Free cash flow totaled $7.08 billion, up from $2.99 billion in Q3 and $49 million a year earlier.