Reuters: Global Markets: SanDisk third-quarter results beat on better pricing

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SanDisk third-quarter results beat on better pricing Oct 18th 2012, 20:42 Thu Oct 18, 2012 4:42pm EDT (Reuters) - SanDisk Corp's (SNDK.O) quarterly results topped expectations as rising demand from chips used in smartphones and tablets and lower supply drove up flash memory prices. SanDisk earned $77 million, or 31 cents per share, in the three months ended September 30, on revenue of $1.27 billion. Excluding items, it earned 48 cents per share. Analysts on average were expecting a profit of 33 cents per share on revenue of $1.22 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. SanDisk makes NAND chips which are used in smartphones, cameras and tablets to store data such as movies and photos. Like many commodities, NAND prices fluctuate widely in response to supply and demand. "We were largely expecting recovery on NAND pricing, we have seen pretty good NAND results, even from Intel, and it's just one of the areas of strength left in the semiconductor market," RBC Capital Markets analyst Doug Freedman said. Chipmakers including SanDisk, Micron Technology Inc (MU.O) (MU.O), Elpida Memory Inc (ELPDF.PK), SK Hynix (000660.KS), Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) and Toshiba Corp (6502.T) ramped up NAND production capacity in a buoyant market for smartphones and tablets, but the subsequent glut in supply has driven prices to new lows. NAND prices fell more than 60 percent earlier this year, according to chip industry tracker DRAMeXchange, but have recovered in the last one month. Prices for 64 GB memory modules have risen by an average 17 percent in October alone, while 32 GB chips have gained 7 percent this month. The company's shares were trading up about 5 percent after the bell. They closed at $42.86 on Thursday on the Nasdaq. (Reporting by Himank Sharma in Bangalore; Editing by Roshni Menon) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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