UPDATE 1-NuVasive posts Q2 profit, raises 2008 outlook

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July 24 (Reuters) - Medical device maker NuVasive Inc (NUVA.O) posted a second-quarter profit, helped by strong revenue growth, and raised its 2008 outlook, sending its shares up 10 percent.

Net loss for the quarter was $495,000, or 1 cent per share, compared with a net loss of $3.4 million, or 10 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding stock-based compensation and amortization of intangible assets, the company earned 14 cents a share. Revenue rose 61 percent to $57.4 million.

Analysts were expecting a loss of 5 cents a share, before special items but including stock-based compensation expenses, on revenue of $51.7 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

For 2008, NuVasive said it expects to earn 5 cents to 7 cents a share, excluding one-time charges, up from its prior view of break-even to 3 cents a share.

Revenue for the year is expected in the range of $238 million to $240 million, up from a previous forecast of $210 million to $214 million.

Analysts were expecting earnings of 1 cent a share, excluding special items, on revenue of $215 million.

Shares of the company rose to $51.37 in trading after the bell. They had closed down $1.27 at $46.89 Thursday on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Esha Dey in Bangalore; Editing by Pratish Narayanan)