Sandisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) Stock Price Down 13.5% After Analyst Downgrade

Sandisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK)’s share price traded down 13.5% on Friday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $1,550.00 to $1,300.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Sandisk traded as low as $1,115.16 and last traded at $1,150.89. Approximately 17,256,470 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 17% from the average daily volume of 14,793,246 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,330.05.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. UBS Group reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $1,750.00 price objective on shares of Sandisk in a research report on Friday, August 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $2,200.00 target price (up from $1,200.00) on shares of Sandisk in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $2,400.00 price target on shares of Sandisk in a research report on Friday. Argus upgraded Sandisk from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $1,600.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $1,400.00 price objective (up from $1,000.00) on shares of Sandisk in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sandisk has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $2,056.23.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Alper Ilkbahar sold 4,712 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,540.58, for a total transaction of $7,259,212.96. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 44,134 shares in the company, valued at $67,991,957.72. This represents a 9.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO David Goeckeler sold 33,841 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,574.21, for a total transaction of $53,272,840.61. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 382,865 shares in the company, valued at $602,709,911.65. This trade represents a 8.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 77,899 shares of company stock worth $121,159,122. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Sandisk News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Sandisk this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong earnings and guidance: Sandisk reported fiscal Q1 revenue of $11.03 billion and EPS of $49.51, exceeding analyst expectations. Revenue increased sharply year over year, while data-center revenue rose 61% sequentially as artificial-intelligence infrastructure drove enterprise SSD demand. Management forecast fiscal Q2 revenue of $12.2 billion to $12.6 billion. Sandisk tops Q1 estimates and guides higher
• Positive Sentiment: Demand visibility improved: Long-term customer agreements, reported purchase commitments extending through 2030 and disciplined supply management suggest strong demand visibility and support for margins. The company also repurchased approximately $5 billion of stock during the quarter. Sandisk CEO discusses customer demand
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts remain bullish: Rosenblatt reaffirmed its buy rating with a $2,400 price target, while Susquehanna maintained a positive rating with a $2,720 target. Analysts cite enterprise SSD growth, expanding profitability and AI-related demand. MRVL versus SNDK analysis

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Sandisk by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 48 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares during the last quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC lifted its stake in Sandisk by 3.2% in the second quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 226 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after buying an additional 7 shares during the period. Insight Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Sandisk by 0.4% during the second quarter. Insight Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,607 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $3,654,000 after buying an additional 7 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Sandisk by 2.4% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 340 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $592,000 after buying an additional 8 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp grew its position in shares of Sandisk by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 267 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $464,000 after buying an additional 8 shares during the period.

Sandisk Trading Down 13.5%

The company has a market capitalization of $166.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.79, a PEG ratio of 0.14 and a beta of 5.23. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $1,566.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,247.03.

Sandisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The data storage provider reported $49.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $46.19 by $3.32. The company had revenue of $11.03 billion for the quarter. Sandisk had a net margin of 56.47% and a return on equity of 87.84%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Sandisk Corporation will post 210.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sandisk announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, August 5th that allows the company to buy back $14 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the data storage provider to reacquire up to 6.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Share buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Sandisk Company Profile

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.