SanDisk Results Top Estimates

(RTTNews) - Flash memory card maker SanDisk Corp. (SNDK) said Wednesday after the markets closed that its second quarter profit fell 70% from last year, as revenue declined and margins shrank.

However, the company's quarterly earnings per share, excluding items, came in above analysts' expectations as did its quarterly revenue.

"During the second quarter, we strengthened our portfolio with several new product launches in both the retail and commercial channels," said Sanjay Mehrotra, president and chief executive officer, SanDisk. "We are making steady progress on all operational fronts, and remain focused on enhancing our financial performance."

SanDisk shares are currently gaining 13.34% in after hours trading after closing the day's regular trading session at $54.18, down $1.30 or 2.34%. The shares trade in a 52-week range of $53.18 to $106.64.

SanDisk makes removable cards, embedded flash products, USB flash drives and solid-state drives used in place of hard disk drives.

For the second quarter ended June 28, 2015, the Milpitas, California-based company reported net income of $81.0 million or $0.38 per share, compared to $273.9 million or $1.14 per share for the year-ago quarter.

Excluding items, adjusted net income for the second quarter was $136.5 million or $0.66 per share, compared to $328.7 million or $1.41 per share in the prior year quarter.

On average, 29 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.33 per share for the second quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Gross margin for the quarter narrowed to 39% from 46% a year ago, while operating margin shrank to 8% from 25% last year.

Revenue for the second quarter fell 24% to $1.24 billion from $1.63 billion in the same quarter last year. Twenty-nine analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $1.20 billion for the second quarter.