Michael Wiggins De Oliveira
Deep Value Returns, Equity Investing without Options or Leverage
Sandisk looks like an obvious buy at about 11x forward free cash flow because AI is creating ever-growing demand for both compute and storage. The memory boom is not going away soon, and there is no need to know exactly when the cycle slows, only that underlying demand remains incredibly strong. The biggest risk is looking back and wondering why it was not bought. x.comÂ
SanDisk could reach $2,500 by the end of 2027 because it trades at about 10x this year's free cash flow while potentially returning up to 5% of its market cap through buybacks. Getting there requires patience through volatility and headlines about falling NAND prices, without losing sight of the underlying thesis. x.comÂ
Sandisk could be the memory supercycle's biggest winner because long-term NAND contracts may make earnings more durable than in past cycles. About $93.9 billion of floor-priced deals cover half of expected FY27 bit shipments and two-thirds in FY28 amid rising AI storage demand. Floors do not guarantee margins; management's roughly 50% adjusted free cash flow margin target for FY28-30 is not reported cash flow. Profitable contracts and sustainable cash generation could support a higher multiple. … Show more
SanDisk's data-center flash growth shows AI inference is becoming a larger storage customer. Data-center revenue reached $4.8bn, up 61% in a quarter and over 40% of sales; total revenue of $11bn and EPS of $49.51 beat expectations. Guidance of $12.4bn revenue and $56 EPS suggests feared supply normalization has not yet eroded pricing. Overweight, with a $2,700 target. x.com x.comÂ
Sandisk's datacenter shipments and restrained bit-supply plan strengthen its growth case, without settling contract protection in a downturn. Management attributed roughly 60% of fiscal Q1 revenue growth to volume and 40% to price; datacenter sales rose 61% sequentially to $4.8B, supplying 88% of total growth. It retains mid-to-high-teens bit growth rather than accelerating supply. Consumer sales fell 29%, and the CFO cautioned against carrying Q2's growth rate into fiscal Q3. x.com x.comÂ
Sandisk's earnings power looks underpriced because AI keeps NAND demand ahead of supply while long-term contracts lock in profits. AI needs enormous high-throughput storage, and new cleanroom capacity is slow to ramp, supporting margins; per Wall Street analysts, multi-year supply deals undercut the cyclical narrative. Q3 revenue rose over 250% to $5.95 billion, and its forward P/E keeps compressing. Evercore ISI raised its target to $3,100 and Bernstein to $3,000. August 5 results are the test. … Show more
Sandisk benefits because AI needs more storage, and long-term customer commitments could make NAND demand and pricing more predictable. x.comÂ
Networking, power and compute look more durable than cyclical memory in the AI buildout. Lumentum's revenue compounded year after year across the 2010s and 2020s, unlike Micron's; AWS revenue also compounded. Lumentum, Nebius, Bloom Energy and Credo should heavily outperform SanDisk and Micron from here, though AI itself remains heavily doubted. x.com x.comÂ
SanDisk CEO David Goeckeler's report of customer signals beyond fiscal 2030 adds storage to the long-duration AI hardware-demand case. He says those signals come through new-business-model partnerships; Micron and SK hynix in memory and Lumentum in photonics were already cited as signs of demand beyond 2030. x.comÂ
Sandisk's fast-growing data-center revenue strengthens its case among memory names with upside. Data-center revenue rose 61% quarter over quarter; revenue of $11.03B, adjusted EPS of $49.51 and adjusted gross margin of 85.1% all exceeded estimates. For upside among Micron, Sandisk and Kioxia, Micron ranks first, then Sandisk, then Kioxia, until further guidance. x.com x.comÂ
SanDisk has run up about 3,000% since its 2025 IPO, turning a $10,000 investment into nearly $300,000 in a year. x.comÂ
Sandisk's earnings growth makes its valuation look unusually low, with guidance showing no slowdown. Revenue rose 378% year over year, and $52.5 GAAP EPS implies a 6.1 annualized P/E, below Micron's. Sandisk's roughly 85% gross margin also compares favorably with SK hynix's apparently sub-50% NAND margin. Next-quarter guidance calls for $12.2 billion-$12.6 billion of revenue and $55-$57 non-GAAP EPS. x.com x.com x.comÂ
