LinkedIn shares jump after the bell on high profit and growth
LINKEDIN reported better-than-expected revenue and profit last night, after it racked up strong growth from its services that help companies find and hire employees and it revised upward its 2012 outlook.
The professional networking site also announced that it had acquired content sharing company SlideShare for $118.75m (£73.4m) in a mix of cash and stock.
First quarter revenue at LinkedIn rose 101 per cent to $188.5m, besting analysts’ average forecast of $178.58m, according to Thomson Reuters.
Shares of LinkedIn were up nine per cent in after-hours trading to $120.50 from their $109.41 close in regular trading.
The Mountain View, California-based company was one of the first prominent US social networking sites to make its debut in an initial public offering a year ago, whetting the appetites of those eagerly awaiting Facebook’s impending IPO.
LinkedIn describes itself as the world’s largest professional internet network, boasting of 161m members across the planet.
The company revised its 2012 outlook, expecting revenue in the range of $880m to $900m from a prior range of $840m to $860m.
Excluding special items, its first-quarter earnings per share of 15 cents was well above analysts’ expectations of nine cents per share.
Net income rose to $5m from $2.1m in the same quarter a year ago. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) for the first quarter were $38.1m.