Sandisk stock can continue its historic run as memory shortages persist and share buybacks pick up, according to Citi Research.
The firm reiterated a Buy rating on the the flash memory supplier and boosted its price target to $2,025 from $1,300 in a research note Tuesday. That would represent 52% growth from Sandisk's closing price Monday of $1,333.01.
Sandisk has soared an astounding 3,218% over the last 12 months as its solid-state drives, or eSSDs, have become a crucial component in artificial-intelligence data centers.
"We remain constructive on a highly favorable [supply-demand] environment with clear indications of persistence with customer demand conversations through [2030]," wrote Citi analyst Asiya Merchant.
A strong earnings report last week from Japanese competitor Kioxia Holdings reinforced that view. Kioxia reported a roughly 85% quarter-over-quarter jump in revenue and guided for 75% sequential growth in the current period. The results beat Wall Street's estimates, Citi noted.
Buybacks are another factor working in shareholders' favor. Sandisk announced a $6 billion share repurchase authorization last quarter, representing around 3% of its current market capitalization. Citi expects that number to rise given the company's growing free cash flow.
For every 1% reduction in share count, Citi estimates a $2 jump in earnings per share. Buybacks aren't currently factored into its model. In other words, that $2,025 price target may not be telling the full story.
Even with Sandisk's astronomical rise over the last year, most analysts agree with Citi. Of the 26 firms polled by FactSet, 20 rate the stock a Buy and just 1 rates it a Sell. Citi is the fifth firm to assign a price target of $2,000 or higher.
Sandisk was down 3.4% to $1,288.20 in premarket trading Tuesday as investors rotated out of hardware stocks. Fellow memory player Micron Technology declined 2.5%. Data-storage duo Seagate Technology and Western Digital -- Sandisk's former parent company -- dropped 3.2% and 3.7%, respectively.