LinkedIn Beats on the Top Line

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

LinkedIn (NYS: LNKD) reported earnings on Thursday. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended June 30 (Q2), LinkedIn beat expectations on revenues and met expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue improved significantly and GAAP earnings per share shrank.


Gross margins increased, operating margins shrank, and net margins dropped.

Revenue details
LinkedIn reported revenue of $228.2 million. The 19 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ looked for a top line of $216.0 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 89% higher than the prior-year quarter's $121.0 million.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
EPS came in at $0.16. The 22 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.16 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.03 for Q2 were 25% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.04 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 86.7%, 190 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 5.9%, 230 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 1.2%, 250 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $235.3 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.16.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $908.1 million. The average EPS estimate is $0.69.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a one-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 283 members out of 1,159 rating the stock outperform, and 876 members rating it underperform. Among 331 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 51 give LinkedIn a green thumbs-up, and 280 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on LinkedIn is outperform, with an average price target of $125.67.

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The article LinkedIn Beats on the Top Line originally appeared on Fool.com.

Seth Jaysonhad no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. The Motley Fool owns shares of LinkedIn. Motley Fool newsletter services recommend LinkedIn. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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