Shares of Novell Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVL) rose Thursday, a day after the network software maker reported a loss for its second quarter, in line with Wall Street estimates.

The Waltham, Mass.-based company posted a net loss of $2.2 million, or 1 cent per share, for the second quarter, compared to net income of $3.3 million in the prior year quarter.

The company's earnings per share result matched the on average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

Revenue rose to $239.2 million from $233.1 million, topping analysts estimates of $235.1 million.

Shares of Novell rose 36 cents, or 4.9 percent to reach $7.71 in late morning trading on the Nasdaq stock market.

Novell is currently transitioning to provide computer network products based on the open source Linux operating system.

"We were pleased with the overall results this quarter, said Ron Hovsepian, President and CEO of Novell. We saw continued strength in our Linux business, improvement in our Identity business and better-than-expected results in Workgroup.

Revenue from the firm's Linux Platform Products surged 83 percent to $19 million over last year, while invoicing revenue climbed 114 percent to $29 million over the prior year.

The company expects net revenue of $925 million to $955 million, down from its previous forecast between $945 million and $975 million.

Software NASDAQ OMX Group