Submitted by Mark Hanna
Courtesy of MarketMontage. View original post here.
LinkedIn (LNKD) has the unfortunate situation of being in the social media space. While this was a “good” place to be a year ago when hype was at its peak, with the mess that was the Facebook (FB) IPO, many stocks in this sector have had a very difficult time in 2012. Frankly most of those names are “me too” companies which are generally weak in nature but LinkedIn continues to post very impressive results quarter after quarter. However it’s stock performance has been very volatile. Lately it seems to spike on its earning report and then selloff for most of the rest of the three months as the stink around FB pervades its space. Last evening the company reported it’s latest earnings report and once again showed a bevy of nice metrics along all 3 business lines.
- …the professional social network reported third-quarter earnings that had it swinging to a profit on 81% higher revenue. Revenue was $252 million, up from $139.5 million. Adjusted profit was 22 cents a share. Analysts were expecting a profit of 11 cents a share, on revenue of $244.6 million, according to a consensus survey by FactSet.
- For the current quarter, the company said it expects revenue in the range of $270 million to $275 million. Analysts were expecting revenue of $272.87 million, according to data from FactSet. LinkedIn also raised its full-year 2012 revenue guidance to a range of $939 million to $944 million, compared with previous targets of as much as $925 million. Analysts were expecting full-year revenue of $930.4 million, according to FactSet.
- LinkedIn said its user base grew to 187 million members, up from 175 million the previous quarter. The company’s three main businesses posted double-digit revenue gains from the year-earlier period.
- Susquehanna analyst Herman Leung said results for LinkedIn’s marketing-solutions business — which offers businesses advertising and marketing services to help them connect with professionals — were particularly strong. “Marketing solutions was the big driver of the beat, while hiring solutions came in line to whisper expectations,” he wrote in a note.
- The company’s marketing business reported revenue of $64 million, up 60% year over year.
- Its talent solutions unit, which helps businesses attract and recruit talent, saw its revenue grow 95% to $138.4 million.
- LinkedIn is best known as a social-networking site for professionals. Its premium-subscriptions business posted revenue of $49.6 million, a gain of 74% from the year-earlier period.
Disclosure Notice
Any securities mentioned on this page are not held by the author in his personal portfolio. Securities mentioned may or may not be held by the author in the mutual fund he manages, the Paladin Long Short Fund (PALFX). For a list of the aforementioned fund’s holdings at the end of the prior quarter, visit the Paladin Funds website at http://www.paladinfunds.com/holdings/blog
