Milpitas memory maker Sandisk's sales jump nearly fivefold as data centers buy more storage

Sandisk, the Milpitas company that makes flash memory chips and storage drives, said Oct. 29 that its sales reached $11.0 billion in the quarter that ended Oct. 2.  That is up from $2.3 billion a year earlier and 23% higher than the previous quarter.

Sales to data centers, the giant buildings full of computers that run AI and online services, rose 61% from the prior quarter to $4.8 billion.  Net income was $8.1 billion.  The results beat Wall Street's forecasts, and Sandisk also announced an eight-for-one stock split.

"We have started fiscal year 2027 with another quarter of strong performance," said David Goeckeler, Sandisk's chairman and CEO.

Why the stock fell anyway

Even so, Sandisk shares fell 13.5% on Oct. 30, closing at $1,150.89, according to The Motley Fool's market data.  They had already dropped 5.3% on Oct. 29, before the results came out, Yahoo Finance reported.  Financial news sites and analysts gave these reasons:

• Growth is slowing.  Sales rose 23% from the previous quarter, down from 51% the quarter before, Investing.com reported.  Sandisk's forecast for next quarter implies about 12%.  Investors pay high prices for stocks whose growth is speeding up, so a slowdown can send shares down even when results are strong.
• Memory prices are rising more slowly.  Higher prices drove about 40% of the quarter's growth, Investing.com said.  Tokyo-based rival Kioxia said its flash prices rose in the mid-20% range last quarter, down from 70% the quarter before.  The research firm Morningstar said it expects "a severe downcycle after the peak" and cut its estimate of the stock's value, Yahoo Finance reported.
• Much good news was already in the price.  The stock had risen more than 460% this year, Yahoo Finance reported, so investors questioned how much higher it could go.
• Chip stocks fell broadly.  Weak results from chipmaker Intel hit the industry, and the Nasdaq stock index fell 2.2%, Investing.com reported.

The split did not help because it does not change what the company is worth.  Each shareholder of record on Nov. 9 will get seven extra shares for every share they own, and each share's price will drop to match.  Sandisk expects sales of $12.2 billion to $12.6 billion next quarter.

Source:  Sandisk, fiscal first quarter 2027 results, Oct. 29, 2026; Investing.com, "SanDisk stock tumbles as Kioxia warns on NAND price surge," Oct. 30, 2026; Investing.com, "SanDisk earnings analysis," Oct. 30, 2026; Yahoo Finance, Oct. 30, 2026; Yahoo Finance, Oct. 30, 2026; The Motley Fool, "Why Sandisk Stock Plunged Today," Oct. 30, 2026.