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July 25, 2006

Improvement seen at SanDisk, Tues., July 25, 2006, 11:35 AM

The UBS research report on SanDisk (SNDK) delves into the improving sales situation.
Download UBS July 25 SNDK report.

You'll note that after due consideration " at least for the limited time I have available " I decided to keep the SanDisk in the Cara Global Best 100 Companies list.

The following is called anecdotal evidence, but last evening I went shopping for two video cams and three headsets. Behind the sales counter there was a lot of SanDisk product. The crowd of shoppers was large and pushy. Mostly Asian.

Mostly demanding SanDisk.

I was impressed.

But then, I already told you I did the same a couple months ago so I could expand multi-100's of additional digital photo's via SanDisk flash memory without having to download to my pc. That may be laziness because the docking station I have is a one-click device, but I just love the added memory.

When you get to a certain age, like me, memory is a big deal, you know. Hahaha.


SanDisk Corp. [GICS 45, Cara 100]
(SNDK: Yahoo Finance file)
(SNDK: StockChart chart)
(SNDK: Investertech chart)
(SNDK: ADVFN Financial Data)
(SNDK: ADVFN Financial Data)



Posted by Posted by Bill Cara on July 25, 2006 11:35:13 AM | Category: 45 Info Technology , Cara Global 100 Best Companies

Discourse

Bill and others:

I hope that all is well. I would love to have a PDF copy of the following report if anyone has it.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060725/analyst_note_silver.html?.v=1

AP
UBS Starts Coverage of Silver Miners
Tuesday July 25, 3:47 pm ET
UBS Analyst Starts Coverage of Three Silver Companies at 'Buy' Rating, One at 'Neutral'

NEW YORK (AP) -- Climbing silver prices prompted UBS to begin coverage of several silver miners on Tuesday, and the analyst said the metal's recent volatility could offer lustrous returns.

Silver prices have surged from about $7 an ounce a year ago to more than $15 in May. Although prices have retreated to around $11 an ounce since then, the market's volatility could make for potential higher returns, said UBS analyst Craig West in a recent client note.

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West began coverage of Silver Wheaton, Pan American Silver Corp. and Silver Standard Resources Inc. at "Buy" ratings, and Coeur d'Alene Mines Corp. at "Neutral."

"As gold's poor cousin, silver is affected by lower physical stocks than gold, resulting in higher price volatility similar to that of the base metals," said West. "This higher volatility does pose higher risk, but also the potential for higher returns."

Silver prices are about 10 percent to 15 percent more volatile than gold prices, the analyst said.

UBS has a bullish outlook on silver prices, with a target of $15 an ounce in 2007. Investment demand -- such as that from new exchange-traded funds that track silver -- combined with a weaker U.S. dollar and gold strength should continue to bolster silver prices.

West said the three "Buy" rated companies each have something to offer investors. Silver Wheaton trades with high leverage to the metal price. Pan American has a solid record of growth and aims to double production by 2009, while Silver Standard is an explorer with substantial resources.

Silver Wheaton shares rose 35 cents, or 4 percent, to $9.13 in late trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Silver Standard shares rose $1.03, or 5.5 percent, to $19.64. Nasdaq-listed Pan American Silver jumped 63 cents, or 3.8 percent, to $17.25.

Shares of Coeur d'Alene rose 9 cents, or 2 percent, to $4.62 on the NYSE.

Silver closed down 2 cents to $10.90 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

My e-mail is BENGREEN@Gmail.com

Best regards,

bg

Posted by: Soulek1 [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 25, 2006 6:25 PM [link]

Bill, Deja Vu all over again? It was almost exactly 2 years ago when the issue of SNDK guidance caused outrage from analysts who followed the company. They felt they had been mislead by management in putting out overly-ambitious guidance which resulted in much less favourable actual performance for the quarter. As a result, the stock got hammered from about $30 down to $20 in a few days. Today, it looks like there is similar situation on the "positive suprise" side developing. The stock rockets up. But what happens this Sept when the enthusiasm is checked by the real numbers? There is a very unhealthy volatility here which further reinforces my thinking that SNDK should now only be a short-term trade, and only for the strongest of heart. While I am glad you are keeping SNDK in the Cara 100, I will begin again to accumulate for the long term under $40, or not at all.

Posted by: TerryC [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 25, 2006 6:39 PM [link]

Aren't Sandisk's products mere commodities? When I shopped for a 1 gig flash chip, I saw several brands, and was advised just to buy the cheapest. For photo use, there was said to be NO advantage to Sandisk. Thus, won't this market evolve like RAM chips = many competitors, overcapacity, no margins?

Posted by: Jock [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 25, 2006 9:29 PM [link]