World’s largest online professional network LinkedIn is making headway in business after reporting a $252 million revenue, an 81 percent increase in its third quarter ended September 2012 compared to $139.5 million in the third quarter of 2011.
“LinkedIn had a strong third quarter with all of our key operating and financial metrics showing solid growth,” said Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn. “The last few months mark the most significant period of product development in the company’s history. This accelerated pace of innovation is fundamental to our goal of driving greater engagement on the LinkedIn platform.”
The professional network with more than 187 million members, had a net income of $2.3 million, compared to a net loss of $1.6 million for the third quarter of 2011.
LinkedIn made $138.4 million revenue from Talent Solutions, an increase the firm says was 95 percent over 2011 results of the same period. This quarter’s $138.4 million revenue from Talent Solutions represented 55 percent of the firm’s total revenue compared to 51 percent in the same period last year.
According to the firm, Marketing Solutions products totaled $64.0 million, an increase of 60 percent compared to the third quarter of 2011 which represented 25 percent of total revenue in the third quarter of 2012, compared to 29 percent in the third quarter of 2011.
Premium Subscriptions gave the firm a total $49.6 million, a 74 percent increase compared to the third quarter of 2011. However Premium Subscriptions represented 20 percent of total revenue in the third quarter of 2012 and 2011.
In the U.S. alone the firm made $162.4 million, 64 percent of the total revenue in the third quarter of 2012 while international markets brought in $89.7 million, and 36 percent representation of the total revenue in the third quarter of 2012.
According to Steve Sordello, CFO of LinkedIn, “Increased member activity led to sustained growth across our talent, marketing, and premium product lines, resulting in record levels of adjusted EBITDA as well as record operating and free cash flow.”
He added, “We expect a strong finish to the year behind momentum in both our engagement and monetization platforms.”
The increased member activity did not just come, LinkedIn made some some changes.
The firm redesigned and simplified its homepage for a more social and relevant experience for users and thereby increasing traffic by more than 60 percent. According tot he firm, the new Notifications resulted in record levels of comments, likes, and shares. with comments increasing four times more since June.
Endorsements, a new and easy way for members to recognize colleagues for specific skills. Since the introduction in late September, LinkedIn members have generated more than 200 million endorsements to their colleagues, and the number of members editing their profiles has more than doubled versus last year.
LinkedIn in early October introduced new Company Pages to more than 2.6 million organizations and unveiled new Profile pages and added the ability to follow thought leaders on LinkedIn, and the ability for those luminaries to publish longform content on the site.
According to the firm, the adjustments had a role in the firm’s profitability.
The firm is now projecting to have a revenue between $270 to $275 million while its adjusted EBITDA to range between $58 and $60 million.
LinkedIn is confident its stock-based compensation will range between $28 and $30 million and depreciation and amortization to range between $23 and $25 million.
For its fourth quarter, the company has revised its expected revenue range upward to $939 to $944 million from the prior range of $915 to $925 million. The company has also revised upward its expected adjusted EBITDA range to $202 to $204 million from the prior range of $185 to $190 million. The company now expects stock-based compensation to range between $87 and $89 million, while the range for depreciation and amortization is now $79 to $81 million.
Founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Silicon Valley. The professional social network connects the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.
