Novellus Q2 lags Street view, shares slide

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Semiconductor equipment maker Novellus Systems Inc (NVLS.O) on Monday posted a wider than expected loss, pushing its shares more than 3 percent lower in after-hours trading.

Novellus, which competes with Applied Materials Inc (AMAT.O), reported a net loss in the second quarter ended June 27 of $50 million, or 52 cents per diluted share, versus a loss of $2.4 million, or 2 cents a share, in 2008's second quarter.

But excluding items such as a $15.9 million charge for workforce reductions and scaling back parts of its business, Novellus reported a loss of $39.3 million or 41 cents a share.

Analysts on average had expected a loss of 38 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Revenue for the company fell 54 percent from a year ago to $119.2 million, on par with the average estimate of $119.24 million.

Shares of San Jose, California-based Novellus closed up 3.7 percent at $18.66 but fell 3.2 percent to $18.07 in after-hours trade on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Clare Baldwin in San Francisco; Editing by Richard Chang)