CF Industries Holdings Inc (CF) shares tumbled 6.12% in a 24-hour span on Wednesday, as the fertilizer producer's second-quarter results fell short of Wall Street expectations. The stock was hit hard in after-hours trading following the earnings release, which showed both earnings per share and revenue coming in below analyst consensus estimates.

The company reported quarterly earnings of $4.73 per share, missing the analyst estimate of $5.44. Revenue reached $2.22 billion, also below the expected $2.44 billion. While the results represented significant year-over-year growth, the shortfall was primarily driven by a 15% decline in sales volumes, which offset the benefit of higher nitrogen prices. Lower sales of urea ammonium nitrate, ammonium nitrate, and ammonia, partly due to the ongoing outage at the Yazoo City complex, weighed on the top line.

Despite the earnings miss, CF Industries highlighted that global nitrogen supply-demand fundamentals remain constructive, and the company announced a 20% dividend increase. However, the negative earnings surprise dominated investor sentiment, leading to the sharp sell-off.