NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
Novellus Systems Inc. Tuesday reported a net loss in third quarter, but excluding charges and special items, the company said it posted a profit of $6.1 million, or 4 cents a share.
Novellus reported a loss of $97.6 million, or 64 cents per share, for the latest quarter, compared with second-quarter 2003 net income of $7.4 million, or 5 cents a share, and year-ago third-quarter net income of $4.1 million, or 3 cents a share.
Excluding charges, analysts polled by First Call expected the company to break even.
The nation's No. 3 maker of chipmaking equipment said sales fell to $221 million from $239 million in the second quarter and $230.5 million in the year-ago period.
"The pace of both the recovery in the semiconductor equipment industry and the crossover to 300-millimeter tool sets required us to restructure the company in the third quarter," said Richard Hill, CEO of Novellus.
"We believe our actions will improve our earnings performance as the industry upturn continues to firm," he added.
Shipments totaled $210.3 million in the third quarter, down 7.2 percent from the previous quarter. Deferred revenue at the end of the third quarter was $103.5 million, a decrease of 9.5 percent from the end of the second quarter.
Shares of Novellus (NVLS: Research, Estimates) climbed to $38.24 in after-hours trading on Instinet from $37.42 at their close on Nasdaq.
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