SanDisk’s latest quarter delivered a mixed but powerful message: record profits and blistering datacenter growth, paired with conservative near-term guidance that left Wall Street split on where the stock goes next. The highlights - Q4 revenue: $8.97 billion, up 51% sequentially. - Fiscal 2026 revenue: $20.25 billion, a 175% increase versus fiscal 2025. - Datacenter revenue: surged 437% year-over-year — a clear sign SanDisk’s growth story is increasingly datacenter-driven. - GAAP net income (FY): $11.43 billion, or $73.76 per diluted share; non-GAAP diluted EPS: $70.88. - Q4 GAAP net income: $6.90 billion, or $43.97 per diluted share (up 91% QoQ); non-GAAP diluted EPS: $39.25. - Gross margin: expanded to 84.6%, more than six percentage points higher than the prior quarter. - Capital return: board approved an additional $14 billion buyback, leaving $15.5 billion in remaining authorization. - Q1 FY2027 guidance: revenue $10.30–10.80 billion; non-GAAP EPS $44.00–$46.00. Why it mattered SanDisk’s results beat on revenue and profit handily, and the company’s outsized datacenter growth underscores how critical NAND flash is becoming for AI and enterprise infrastructure. But management’s revenue guidance for the coming quarter landed below the Street’s expectations — even though EPS guidance was in line — creating the split reaction among investors and analysts. Management perspective Chairman and CEO David Goeckeler framed the year as a strategic inflection: “We closed fiscal 2026 with a leading technology portfolio, established datacenter as a key growth pillar, and deepened our customer partnerships. Our technology and products are well positioned to create value for our customers and generate growing and durable free cash flow.” Wall Street reaction - Goldman Sachs (James Schneider) kept a Buy rating and held its price target at $2,200 (about 63% upside from the $1,350.50 share price at the time of the note). Goldman flagged that revenue guidance below the Street — despite in-line EPS guidance — could pressure the stock near-term, as investor expectations had been high heading into the print due to pricing strength, AI datacenter NAND adoption and strong peer results. Goldman noted long-term agreements and buyback pace as key items to monitor. - Mizuho Securities also maintained a Buy rating but trimmed its price target to $1,900 from $2,200, reflecting the same central theme: a strong beat offset by conservative near-term guidance. Takeaway for investors (and crypto infrastructure watchers) SanDisk’s quarter shows a transformation toward datacenter-led growth, which matters not just to enterprise AI customers but to any business — including crypto exchanges and infrastructure providers — that depend on high-performance, high-density storage. The strong margins, massive buyback authorization and aggressive datacenter revenue gains are bullish signals. Still, below-street revenue guidance has widened analyst price-target dispersion and left the stock trading lower at the time of the reports. Expect the guidance debate — and scrutiny of long-term contracts and buyback execution — to shape sentiment in the coming sessions. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news