UPDATE 1-MKS Q3 in line with Street; sees business picking up

* Q3 adj shr, rev in-line with estimates

* Sees business improving in Q4

* Q4 rev view $120 mln to $135 mln vs est $122.3 mln

Oct 22 (Reuters) - Chip equipment maker MKS Instruments Inc (MKSI.O) posted third-quarter results in line with market expectations, helped by rising chip unit sales and higher semiconductor front-end utilization rates.

The company, which supplies gas measurement, control and analysis products to make chips, has adjusted its production to meet increasing demand, but its fourth-quarter revenue outlook was still a little weak.

Net loss was $4 million, or 8 cents a shares, down from $6.8 million, or 14 cents a share, a year-ago. Excluding items, the company posted earnings of 3 cents a share.

Revenue rose 34 percent sequentially to $106.3 million.

Analysts were expecting earnings of 3 cents a share on revenue of $106.3 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company expects business in the fourth quarter to keep improving and forecast adjusted earnings of 4 cents to 11 cents a share on revenue of $120 million to $135 million.

Analysts on average were expecting a profit of 9 cents a share on revenue of $122.3 million.

Shares of the Andover, Massachusetts-based company closed at $18.54 Wednesday on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Savio D'Souza in Bangalore; Editing by Anil D'Silva)