Sun Microsystems Narrows 1Q Loss

Sun Microsystems Inc. on Thursday posted a narrowed first-quarter loss on a second consecutive quarter of sales growth.

Sun released its results after the closing bell and shares rose 7 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $4.04 in the extended session. The stock closed down 5 cents, or 1.2 percent, at $3.97 on the Nasdaq.

The company, which provides products and services for network computing, posted a loss of $174 million, or 5 cents per share, for the three months ended Sept. 26, narrower than the loss of $286 million, or 9 cents per share, a year ago.

Excluding restructuring charges, litigation with Kodak and other unusual items, Sun would have posted a profit of $13 million, breaking even per share and beating analyst estimates for a loss of 3 cents per share. During the same period a year ago, Sun posted an operating loss of $259 million, or 8 cents per share.

Sales rose 3.6 percent to $2.63 billion from $2.54 billion a year ago. Analysts had predicted 3 percent sales growth.Sun said the better-than-expected results came partially from reduced costs. The company lowered its research and administrative spending compared with the fourth quarter.

Sun, the nation's fourth-largest computer hardware company, has a market capitalization of $13.6 billion.

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