(Flickr / Isaac Wedin)

More bad news for an organic grocery chain.

Shares of Sprouts Farmers Market plunged by more than 9% in after-hours trading on Thursday after the company reported first quarter earnings and sales below expectations.

The drop in Sprouts follows bad news from Whole Foods on Wednesday, which saw shares get crushed after it posted a miss on revenues.

Sprouts reported net sales of $857.5 million, up 19% year-over-year below expectations for $863 million, according to Bloomberg.

The company posted diluted earnings per share of $0.24, just below the estimate for earnings of $0.26. Same store sales were also a miss, growing at 4.8% against expectations for 5.6% growth.

Sprouts, like Whole Foods, facing intense competition as sales of organic food explodes in the US.

Organic food sales more than tripled from $11 billion in 2004 to about $35 billion in 2014, according to the Department of Agriculture.

Sprouts Farmers expects to add 27 new stores this year, and anticipates net sales growth of between 20% and 22%.

NOW WATCH: We Ate Balut — The Absolute Strangest Food You Can Find In New York

More From Business Insider

• This cloud security stock is crashing after the company reported weak guidance
  

• Disney beats on earnings and now the stock is at an all-time high
  

• Chevron just became the latest energy company to smash earnings expectations