LinkedIn Results Top Estimates; Outlook Disappoints

(RTTNews) - Professional social network LinkedIn Corp. (LNKD) said Thursday after the markets closed that its fourth quarter profit fell 67% from last year, as higher costs and expenses more than offset a 47% increase in revenue.

However, the company's quarterly earnings per share, excluding items, came in above analysts' expectations as did its quarterly revenue.

At the same time, the company forecast first quarter and full year 2014 revenue below analysts' current consensus estimates.

"Solid fourth quarter performance capped another successful year where improvements in scale and relevance across our platform led to strong member engagement," said Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn. "Moving forward, we are investing significantly in a focused number of long-term initiatives that will allow us to realize our vision to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce."

LinkedIn shares are currently losing 7.92% in after hours trading after closing the day's regular trading session at $223.45, up $9.09 or 4.24%. The shares trade in a 52-week range of $122.08 to $257.56.

For the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2013, the Mountain View, California-based company reported net income of $3.8 million or $0.03 per share, compared to $11.5 million or $0.10 per share for the year-ago quarter.

Excluding stock-based compensation and other items, adjusted net income for the fourth quarter was $48.2 million or $0.39 per share, compared to $40.2 million or $0.35 per share in the prior year quarter.

On average, 33 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.38 per share for the fourth quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenue for the fourth quarter rose 47% to $447.22 million from $303.62 million in the same quarter last year. Thirty-two analyst had a consensus revenue estimate of $437.84 million for the fourth quarter.

In late October, the company had forecast fourth quarter revenue of $415 million to $420 million that was below analysts' then consensus estimate of $438.08 million.

The company's membership grew to about 277 million from 259 million in the third quarter.

The company recorded strong revenue growth across all its three product categories. Fourth quarter revenues from talent solutions products jumped 53% to $245.6 million, while revenue from marketing solutions products surged 36% to $113.5 million and revenue from premium subscriptions products climbed 48% to $88.1 million.

U.S. revenue comprised 61% of the company's total revenue in the fourth quarter, while international revenue comprised the rest 39%.

Looking forward, the company forecasts revenue of $455 million to $460 million for the first quarter and $2.02 billion to $2.05 billion for the full year 2014.

Analysts currently expect the company to post revenue of $470.27 million for the first quarter and $2.16 billion for the full year 2014.