LinkedIn shares were up around 8% in after hours trading to close to$195 after the social network reported better than expected earnings.
The company reported $534 million in second quarter revenue, up 47% from the same period a year ago and well ahead of Wall Street analysts' call from $511 million. On a GAAP basis -- generally accepted accounting principles -- LinkedIn reported a $1 million net loss, but non-GAAP net income was $63 million, up 43% and more than $14 million ahead of the Street expectation.
The GAAP loss came in at a penny per share, but non-GAAP earnings were 51 cents per share. That is a whopping 12 cents ahead of estimates and up 34% from a year earlier. All non-GAAP figures exclude tax-affected stock-based compensation expense and tax-affected amortization of acquired intangible assets.
“LinkedIn delivered strong financial results in the second quarter while maintaining investment in our member and customer offerings,” said CEO Jeff Weiner in a statement on the results. “We made significant progress against several key strategic priorities including increasing the scale of job opportunities on LinkedIn; expanding our professional publishing platform; and continuing the strategic shift towards content marketing through Sponsored Updates.”
Looking ahead LinkedIn expects revenue to be between $543 million and $547 million in the current third quarter and between $2.14 billion and $2.15 billion for the full year. The company anticipates non-GAAP earnings per share of 44 cents and $1.80 for the same periods.
The pop comes off of a down day for the market at large and for LinkedIn especially. Year-to-date the professional network's stock is down close to 17% while Facebook is up 33%. Twitter, on the other hand, is down 29%. All three were down more than 2% during the trading day Thursday.
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