Midway Narrows Loss

Video-game publisher Midway Games(MWY Quote - Cramer on MWY - Stock Picks) narrowed its loss, beat analysts' expectations in the first quarter and offered mixed guidance for the next.

Net loss for the first quarter ended March 31 was $19.8 million, compared with a loss of $22.6 million the same quarter of 2006.

Excluding items, the Chicago-based company on Thursday said it lost $18.2 million, or 20 cents a share during the quarter, compared with $21.5 million, or 24 cents a share, the year before. That beat estimates of analysts polled by Thomson Financial by 4 cents.

Revenue for the quarter was $11.1 million, down 28% from $15.4 million in the same quarter last year. Analysts were expecting revenue of $7.37 million.

Shares of Midway closed the regular session down 8 cents, or 1.1%, to $6.95.

For the second quarter, Midway said revenue is likely to be $29 million, significantly lower than the analyst forecast of $34.97 million.

Excluding items, Midway expects a second-quarter loss of about 14 cents a share, better than analyst expectations of a loss of 19 cents a share.