Flash storage provider SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) pleased investors and analysts alike when it beat expectations with its third-quarter earnings report Wednesday.
The company raked in $1.63 billion in revenue, which was 3.8% higher than analyst estimates of $1.57 billion and 10% higher than last quarter's earnings. On a GAAP basis, SanDisk reported Q3 net income of $1.18 per diluted share, compared to $0.31 in the year-ago quarter and $1.06 in the prior quarter.
In the third quarter, SanDisk also got better at retaining its earnings, with operating income up to $408 million compared to $393 million last quarter. Net income, meanwhile, jumped from $299 million in the second quarter to $371 million.
Much of the recent growth, according to SanDisk President and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra in a statement, is because "our client and enterprise SSD products continue to gain momentum and our acquisition of SMART Storage Systems expands our presence in enterprise SSDs." SanDisk has also benefited from the progressively increasing demand for data storage. The company has strategically collaborated with Western Digital to create a solid-storage device, as well as offering its own such product.
Additionally, this quarter SanDisk initiated its first dividend program, paying investors $0.225 per share of common stock. It also repurchased $1.07 billion worth of stock after announcing a $1 billion share buyback program.
After Wednesday's result came out, SanDisk's stock gained $1.51, or 2.4%, to $64.45 in extended trading. If investors react similarly in today's regular trading session, the stock will establish a new 52-week high.
-- Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.
