Micron shares plummeted 16% on Thursday — heading for their worst day since March 2020 and the start of the Covid pandemic — after the chipmaker issued disappointing second-quarter guidance in its earnings report.

The stock fell to $86.78 in early afternoon trading, about 45% down from its all-time high in June.

For the fiscal second quarter, Micron said it expects revenue of $7.9 billion, plus or minus $200 million, and adjusted earnings per share of $1.43, plus or minus 10 cents. Analysts were expecting revenue of $8.98 billion and EPS of $1.91, according to LSEG.

On the earnings call, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said the company, which provides computer memory and storage, is seeing slower growth in parts of consumer devices and is experiencing “inventory adjustments.”

“Micron expects further delay in the PC refresh cycle and cited pockets of elevated customer inventory in smartphones,” analysts at Stifel wrote in a report to clients. The firm kept its buy rating on the stock but lowered its price target to $130 from $135.

Micron reported an earnings beat from the first quarter, with earnings per share coming in at $1.79, topping the $1.75 average analyst estimate. Revenue jumped 84% from a year earlier to $8.71 billion, meeting estimates. The growth was driven by a 400% increase in data center revenue due largely to demand for artificial intelligence, Micron said.

“We continue to gain share in the highest margin and strategically important parts of the market and are exceptionally well positioned to leverage AI-driven growth to create substantial value for all stakeholders,” the company wrote in its report.

WATCH: Micron shares plunge

Micron shares plunged 13% in extended trading on Wednesday after the chipmaker issued weak second-quarter guidance despite an earnings beat for the latest period.

Here’s how the company did compared to analysts’ expectations surveyed by LSEG:

• Earnings per share: $1.79, adjusted vs. $1.75 expected

• Revenue: $8.71 billion vs. $8.71 billion expected

For the second quarter, Micron said it expects revenue of $7.9 billion, plus or minus $200 million, and adjusted earnings per share of $1.43, plus or minus 10 cents. Analysts were expecting revenue of $8.98 billion and EPS of $1.91, according to LSEG.

The computer memory and storage company has seen its shares climb 22% year to date as of market close, trailing the Nasdaq’s 29% gain. In the earnings report, Micron highlighted data centers and artificial intelligence ventures with Nvidia’s processors as growth areas.

“While consumer-oriented markets are weaker in the near term, we anticipate a return to growth in the second half of our fiscal year, said CEO Sanjay Mehrotra in a press release. “We continue to gain share in the highest margin and strategically important parts of the market and are exceptionally well positioned to leverage AI-driven growth to create substantial value for all stakeholders.”

WATCH: Micron shares continue to slip on guidance

Tesla shares sank more than 8% on Wednesday, notching their steepest drop since before Donald Trump’s election victory last month, which sparked a sharp rally in the stock.

Tesla closed at $440.13, and is still up 75% since Election Day on Nov. 5. Last week, the stock climbed to a record, surpassing its prior high reached in 2021. Ahead of Wednesday’s drop, it had continued going up, closing at a high of $479.86 on Tuesday.

“Most investors we speak to have been stunned by the magnitude of the rally, and are increasingly confused on how to handle the stock given how widely disconnected it appears to be from fundamentals,” analysts at Barclays wrote in a report on Wednesday. They have the equivalent of a hold rating on the stock and a $270 price target.

The pullback coincided with a steep drop in the broader market, including a 3.6% plunge in the Nasdaq, the second-worst day of the year for the tech-heavy index.

Tesla is coming off a 38% rally in November, its best monthly performance since January 2023 and its 10th best on record. CEO Elon Musk was a major Trump backer, pouring in $277 million primarily into his campaign effort, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

Now Musk, the world’s richest person, is set to to lead the Trump administration’s “Department of Government Efficiency,” which is expected to function as an advisory office, alongside onetime Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

His new role could give Musk, who also runs SpaceX and owns social media company X, influence over federal agencies’ budgets, staffing and the ability to push for the elimination of inconvenient regulations. Musk said during a Tesla earnings call in October that he intended to use his sway with Trump to establish a “federal approval process for autonomous vehicles.”

While Tesla still doesn’t produce robotaxis or operate driverless ride-hailing services, its major domestic competitor Waymo on Wednesday said it conducted over 4 million paid robotaxi trips in 2024 as it scaled its commercial operations in the U.S.

“Tesla is the only Elon Musk company that is publicly traded and it has often served as a proxy for an investment in Musk himself,” the Barclays analysts wrote. “This value has understandably increased, but this further exacerbates the already-high key man risk in Tesla stock, in our view.”

On Wednesday, a Quinnipiac poll found 53% of voters in the U.S. do not approve of Musk “playing a prominent role in the Trump administration.” The split was massive across party and gender lines — only 31% of women surveyed said they approved of Musk taking a big role in the next administration, and only 5% of Democrats approved.

Musk has also complained in recent days that the SEC has issued a “settlement demand” tied to his sale of Tesla shares in 2022 as he was pursuing the purchase of Twitter, now known as X.

A spokesperson for the SEC declined to discuss the matter, telling CNBC that the agency conducts probes “on a confidential basis to preserve the integrity of its investigative process.”

Tesla is due to report its fourth-quarter and year-end vehicle deliveries in January. Without a major new vehicle added to its lineup since Cybertruck deliveries began in November 2023, Tesla has been working to drive sales of its EVs with an array of incentives, like 0% financing.

WATCH: Analyst explains why Tesla’s momentum remains unstoppable