Nvidia shares tumbled sharply after the graphics chipmaker revealed its earnings were substantially less than what Wall Street analysts had expected. Nvidia announced sales of $456 million for its second fiscal quarter--almost $50 million below what most analysts had expected. Revenue for the quarter ending July 25 was a shocking 79 percent off the previous year's second-quarter numbers, $5.1 million vs. $24.2 million.

　　Nvidia shares have shed almost 40 percent of their value this year, with most of that decline occurring since June 26 when competitor ATI announced sales and earnings that exceeded analyst expectations.

　　"The second quarter was challenging and disappointing as the desktop GPU segment declined significantly as a result of several unusual market events," CEO Jen-Hsun Huang reportedly said in today's earnings call to analysts and investors. Huang attributed the decline in income to price competition and production delays.

　　While most of its divisions reported losses, revenues from the sale of GPUs used in Microsoft's Xbox game console climbed $16 million to more than $85 million.

　　After trading was momentarily halted midsession, the stock closed off $.41 to $14.56, a 2.7 percent decline on the day. The Wall Street Journal reported the stock endured further losses in after-hours trading, trading as low as $11.13 a share.