The server maker, better known for flogging AI hardware and high-density servers, now reckons it will haul in between $21.8 billion and $22.6 billion for the fiscal year ending 30 June, well down from the original target of $23.5 billion to $25 billion.

Cocane nose jobs of Wall Street surveyed by FactSet were dreaming of $23.55 billion, which now looks like fantasy.

Chief executive Charles Liang tried to put a brave face on the mess, insisting that many delayed orders would still "land in future quarters" and saying the company remains confident about its long-term targets. 

For the current quarter, Super Micro expects per-share earnings between 30 and 40 cents on sales of $5.6 billion to $6.4 billion. On an adjusted basis, it is expecting 40 to 50 cents a share. The cocaine nose jobs of Wall Street, however, had been expecting 65 cents on $6.65 billion in revenue and 66 cents on an adjusted basis.

In response, the market gave Super Micro a good kicking. Shares plunged 8.6 per cent to $30.10 in after-hours trading. Over the past year, the stock has been a horror show, shedding about 60 per cent of its value, despite a minor 8.1 per cent bump earlier this year.

The bloodbath follows a grim early warning last week when the company pre-announced preliminary results that missed its guidance by a mile. When the real numbers came out, they matched the warning:

Super Micro booked a third-quarter profit of $108.8 million, or 17 cents a share, compared with $402.5 million, or 66 cents a share, a year earlier. Adjusted earnings came in at 31 cents per share, well below the 40 cents analysts had scribbled down.

Revenue rose 19 per cent to $4.6 billion, which still fell far short of the $5.01 billion that had been expected.