Sandisk Announces FY2028–2030 Financial Targets, Pledges 100% of Excess Cash Back to Shareholders

Sandisk held its 2026 Investor Day, outlining its NAND technology roadmap, highly optimized financial model, and enduring customer partnerships, all aimed at driving sustainable long-term value in the AI era.

Enterprise Data Center Flash TAM to Reach 1.2 ZB by 2030, with Continuous Technological Innovation

In 2026, data center overtakes edge as the largest flash swimlane. The expansion of AI from training to inference has created new demands on storage infrastructure. 

Sandisk stated that AI inference workloads are driving rapid growth in token usage. As AI inference scales up, AI data centers will become increasingly reliant on storage. The company projects that the total addressable market (TAM) for enterprise data center flash memory will reach 1.2 ZB by 2030. Sandisk internally splits the workload structure as follows: Staging accounts for 40%, KV Cache for 35%, and Fast Data Lakes for 25%. In terms of NAND technology, TLC accounts for 66% and QLC for 34%. 

To meet these demands, the company introduced a two-dimensional scaling strategy leveraging CMOS directly Bonded to Array (CBA) technology:

BiCS9 QLC: Combining a proven BiCS8 array with a BiCS10-based CMOS wafer, this technology delivers high performance for AI workloads while maintaining manufacturing capital efficiency.

BiCS10 QLC: Setting an industry benchmark, the upcoming BiCS10 QLC node achieves a 60% increase in bit density compared to BiCS8, maximizing performance and power efficiency.

HBFHigh Bandwidth Flash: Gaining momentum as a compelling solution for the era of AI inference, supported by a growing industry ecosystem.

Financial Model Set for FY2028–2030, Pledges 100% of Excess Cash Returned to Shareholders

Sandisk unveiled a long-term financial model designed to optimize growth, sustainability, and shareholder returns. The company's targets for fiscal years 2028 through 2030 are as follows:

Revenue Growth: Expected in the mid-to-high teens, aligning with bit growth.

Margins: Projected non-GAAP gross margins of approximately 80% and non-GAAP operating margins near 75%.

Cash Flow & Returns: With operating expenses modeled at around 5% of revenue, the company anticipates an adjusted free cash flow margin of approximately 50%. Sandisk notably committed to returning 100 percent of excess cash to shareholders after reinvesting in the business.

This financial stability is underpinned by the company's New Business Model (NBM) agreements, which include committed volumes and minimum financial guarantees. Sandisk has signed NBMs with eight customers, accounting for about 50% of bits in FY2027 and approximately two-thirds of bits in FY2028.