Shares of Serve Robotics Inc. (NASDAQ: SERV) tumbled 15.96% in after-hours trading on Thursday, following the release of the company's second-quarter earnings report. The significant drop came as the robotics firm posted mixed results, with earnings falling short of analyst expectations despite a revenue beat.

Serve Robotics reported a quarterly loss of $(0.24) per share, missing the analyst consensus estimate of $(0.21) by 12.68%. This disappointing figure overshadowed the 11.11% improvement from the $(0.27) per share loss reported in the same period last year. On a brighter note, the company's quarterly sales reached $642,000, surpassing the analyst consensus estimate of $624,800 by 2.75%. This represents a substantial 37.07% increase compared to sales of $468,380 in the same quarter of the previous year.

The market's harsh reaction to the earnings miss suggests that investors were particularly focused on the company's bottom line, overshadowing the revenue growth. As Serve Robotics continues to navigate the challenging landscape of the robotics industry, the pressure to improve profitability while maintaining growth appears to be intensifying. The after-hours plunge reflects investor concerns about the company's path to profitability, despite its ability to grow sales in a competitive market.