Top Analyst: LinkedIn's Long-Term Fundamentals 'Largely Unchanged'

In a report published Friday, analysts at Wedbush maintained their Neutral rating on LinkedIn Corp. LNKD. The price target was lowered from $260 to $200. The company reported largely in-line results for Q1, while lowering its guidance for 2015. The company posted its 1Q revenue in-line with the consensus but below the analysts' estimates, while the EBITDA came in below both the consensus and the estimates. However, user growth accelerated as compared to 4Q14, with mobile continuing to gain momentum. In fact, mobile accounted for more than 50 percent of the overall unique visits. Sponsored updates also witnessed sustained growth. LinkedIn has guided to a lower than expected Q2, while reducing its revenue and EBITDA guidance for the year, for the first time since 2011. According to the analysts, "the revenue reduction was due to a combination of FX, display advertising and near-term talent solutions headwinds, while the EBITDA reduction was impacted by these factors along with the deferred revenue writedown associated with the lynda.com acquisition." Wedbush expects the company to see increasing Fx headwinds through the remainder of 2015. "Despite the reduction in the outlook, we do not believe that the long-term fundamental opportunity has materially changed," the analysts stated, while adding that "the timing and materiality of some of the potential key future growth catalysts" was still uncertain.