NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Micron Technology Tuesday did not come through with the profit analysts expected, losing money for the sixth straight quarter, as the company endured tumbling memory chip prices amid slumping demand from computer makers.

Micron (MU: Research, Estimates) shares tumbled $1.75, or 9 percent, to $18 a share in after-hours trading

The maker of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips said it lost 4 cents a share, or $24 million, in its fiscal third quarter ended in May. That follows a loss of 5 cents, or $30 million, in the year-ago period.

"Selling prices have fallen significantly" amid slipping demand, Bill Stover, the company's chief financial officer, told analysts in a conference call.

Micron's results disappointed analysts, who according to the consensus First Call survey expected a profit of 6 cents a share.

The computer business is in tough shape. Both Advanced Micro Devices, (AMD: Research, Estimates) the No 2 chip maker, and Apple Computer (APPL: Research, Estimates), last week cut their financial guidance.

Sales in Micron's third quarter slipped to $771 million from $818 million a year ago, the company said.

The results reported after the closing bell come as prices for memory chips have fallen for Micron and its competitors. Prices for megabits sold by Micron in the third quarter slipped 17 percent from the second quarter, the company said, resulting in a $26 million writedown.

Inventories of unsold chips "increased significantly," Micron said.

Micron, based in Boise, Idaho, faces other problems. It confirmed this week that it received a grand jury subpoena from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The Department of Justice has served subpoenas on several computer memory-chip makers as part of an investigation into alleged anti-competitive practices.

"This just occurred and we don't have anything new to say beyond the press release," Michael Sadler, Micron's vice president for sales and marketing, told analysts in the conference call.