SanDisk says AI inference is driving up NAND demand, with long-term orders booked through 2030

AI Inference Ignites Global NAND Demand: SanDisk Says "Customers Underestimate Flash Capacity Needs," Long-Term Orders Stretch to 2030

IT Home Download the App for Exclusive Early Access October 30, 2026, 10:58:36 From Shandong

IT Home, October 30 news: On the fiscal 2027 first-quarter (July 4, 2026 to October 2, 2026) earnings conference call, SanDisk executives said that AI inference is reshaping the supply and demand landscape of the NAND flash market, and that customers "underestimate NAND flash capacity needs."

SanDisk management said customers generally "underestimate the NAND capacity required to run AI infrastructure," and are therefore substantially increasing long-term orders; the company's new business model (NBM) order pipeline has extended to 2030 and even further.

IT Home note: NBM is a long-term cooperation model based on committed purchase volumes, contractual constraints, and pricing mechanisms. SanDisk disclosed that about 50% of bit shipments (NAND shipments measured by storage capacity) in fiscal 2027 have been locked in by NBM agreements, and that this proportion is expected to rise to about two-thirds in fiscal 2028; by the end of this decade, NBM reserved demand may exceed the company's available supply.

On the technology front, SanDisk announced that its first high-bandwidth flash (HBF) memory die has completed tape-out and entered the manufacturing stage. HBF targets AI inference scenarios, aiming to provide read bandwidth close to HBM while offering NAND-level large capacity, which can be used to support larger models, longer contexts, and continuously growing KV caches; the first product samples are planned for delivery in the next calendar year.

SanDisk also noted that the market is exploring the use of SLC NAND to replace some high-cost DRAM. In AI inference, flash can play a capacity-layer role, helping systems retain broader context and reducing expensive repeated computation.

After the earnings release, SanDisk (SNDK) shares showed a clear "sell-the-news, rise-then-fall" pattern: although Q1 results and next-quarter guidance both beat expectations, the after-hours share price still moved lower.

In the regular trading session on October 29, SanDisk closed at $1,330.05 (approximately 8,881 yuan at current exchange rates), down $74.72 (approximately 498.9 yuan at current exchange rates) for the day, a decline of 5.32%; the previous trading day's closing price was $1,404.77 (approximately 9,379 yuan at current exchange rates).

The earnings report was released after the U.S. stock market close. The company's quarterly revenue was $11.03 billion (approximately 73.646 billion yuan at current exchange rates), and non-GAAP earnings per share were $49.51 (approximately 330.6 yuan at current exchange rates), both above market expectations; it also announced an 8-for-1 stock split, effective November 19.

After the earnings release, SanDisk shares rose at one point but then fell back. As of the evening of October 29 U.S. Eastern Time, the after-hours price was about $1,282.50 to $1,295.05 (approximately 8,563 yuan to 8,647 yuan at current exchange rates), down another roughly 2.6% to 3.6% from that day's close; calculated from the previous closing price of $1,404.77 (approximately 9,379 yuan at current exchange rates), the cumulative decline was about 7.8%.

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