Extra Space Storage Inc. (EXR) saw its stock price plummet by 5.21% in pre-market trading on Thursday following the release of its third-quarter earnings report. The self-storage real estate investment trust (REIT) significantly underperformed analyst expectations, triggering a sell-off among investors.

The company reported adjusted earnings of 78 cents per share for the quarter ended September 30, falling short of the mean analyst expectation of $1.20 per share. This figure also represents a decline from the 91 cents per share reported in the same quarter last year. Adding to the disappointment, Extra Space Storage's revenue rose only 3.5% to $735.58 million, well below the analyst forecast of $779.85 million.

The earnings miss comes at a challenging time for Extra Space Storage, as its shares had already lost 5.2% year-to-date prior to this report. With Wall Street's median 12-month price target for the company at $157.50, approximately 10% above its last closing price of $141.76, investors will be closely watching to see if the company can recover from this setback and regain market confidence.