Sandisk tops Q1 estimates and guides higher, sets 8-for-1 stock split

Investing.com -- SanDisk Corporation ( SNDK ) reported fiscal first-quarter results that topped Wall Street expectations on Thursday and lifted its near-term guidance, propelled by surging memory demand for artificial intelligence workloads.

Shares edged down just 8.5% in premarket trading on Friday following the report, alongside the announcement of an eight-for-one forward stock split and continued share repurchases.

Bernstein analysts said that "pricing and buybacks more than offset cost headwinds," which is likely to support the stock going forward.

For the fiscal second quarter, management expects revenue between $12.2 billion and $12.6 billion, ahead of the $12.29 billion consensus estimate. The semiconductor maker projected second-quarter non-GAAP diluted earnings between $55.00 and $57.00 per share on a pre-split basis, also topping analyst forecasts of $54.69 per share.

In the first quarter ended October 2, 2026, Sandisk posted revenue of $11.03 billion, comfortably beating analyst expectations of $10.7 billion and rising 23% sequentially. Non-GAAP diluted earnings reached $49.51 per share, ahead of Wall Street estimates of $47.15 per share, as non-GAAP gross margin climbed to 85.1% amid ongoing pricing power.

Operational growth was anchored by the data center division, where revenue rose 61% sequentially to $4.80 billion as enterprise customers expanded deployments of high-density flash storage for AI models and context caching. The edge division delivered $5.83 billion in revenue, up 7% from the prior quarter, offsetting a 29% sequential retreat in consumer memory revenue to $397 million.

Capital returns remained aggressive alongside the operational expansion, with the company deploying $5.0 billion to repurchase approximately 3.2 million shares during the quarter as adjusted free cash flow totaled $5.70 billion. To widen liquidity and facilitate employee stock purchase participation, the board approved an eight-for-one forward stock split set to take effect after the market close on November 19, 2026.

While the muted after-hours reaction indicates some consolidation following a 550% run over the past twelve months, the results underscore resilient fundamental momentum across enterprise channels. Investors will likely look to subsequent quarters to assess how long current capacity constraints and premium pricing dynamics can support such elevated operating margins.