SanDisk shares climb ahead of earnings report

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of SanDisk Corp. climbed Thursday following an upbeat note from an analyst who said the flash memory products maker finished its second quarter strong.

Lazard Capital Markets analyst Daniel Amir said he believes SanDisk gained market share of about 3 percent at the expense of rivals in the MicroSD memory card market during the quarter.

SanDisk's flash memory cards are used in cameras and other devices. Memory chip makers faced sharp price declines beginning last year as a glut of supply collided with the economic downturn. SanDisk fell to a loss in the second quarter of 2008 and has remained in the red since.

On Thursday, Amir raised his estimates for the quarter, to a loss of 16 cents per share from an earlier prediction of a loss of 21 cents a share, and to sales of $714 million from an earlier $696 million.

In comparison the average analyst estimate is for a loss of 18 cents per share on sales of $700.1 million, according to Thomson Reuters.

Amir kept a "Buy" rating and a $20 target price on SanDisk. He said while there is a risk of softening prices for NAND memory products (used in digital devices such as cameras and music players), Wall Street's expectations for the stock are low even though profitability is beginning to improve. In addition, the company'sbusiness model "continues to strengthen as the NAND market has stabilized," he added.

The company plans to post its results for the quarter on Wednesday, July 22.

Shares of the Milpitas, Calif.-based company jumped $1.44, or 8.9 percent, to $17.64. The stock has traded between $5.07 and $23.50 in the past 52 weeks.