LinkedIn Shares Tumble On Weak Forecast

Shares of LinkedIn Corp LNKD tumbled more than 25 percent in after-hours trading after the company issued a downbeat outlook for the second quarter and full year. The Mountain View, California-based company reported a quarterly net loss of $43 million, or $0.34 per share, versus a year-ago net loss of $13 million, or $0.11 per share. Its non-GAAP EPS climbed to $0.57 from $0.38. Its revenue for the first quarter climbed 35 percent year-over-year to $638 million, from $473 million, in the year-ago quarter. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.57 per share on revenue of $637.5 million. The average estimate among 127 Estimize users was for earnings of $0.60 per share and revenue of $648.47 million. Revenue from Talent Solutions products rose 36 percent year-over-year to $396 million in the first quarter. Revenue from Marketing Solutions products gained 38 percent to $119 million, while revenue from Premium Subscriptions products rose 28 percent to $122 million. Revenue from the U.S. came in at $389 million, while revenue from international markets came in at $248 million in the first quarter of 2015. Revenue from the field sales channel was $393 million, while revenue from the online channel came in at $244 million. Adjusted EBITDA rose to $160 million for the first quarter, up from $117 million. "Q1 was a solid quarter in which we made meaningful progress against our multi-year strategic roadmap," said Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn. "During the quarter, we maintained steady growth in member engagement while achieving strong financial results." For the second quarter, the company expects adjusted earnings of $0.28 per share, on revenue of $670 million to $675 million. However, analysts had projected earnings of $0.74 per share revenue of $718 million. For the full year 2015, LinkedIn projects adjusted earnings of $1.90 per share on revenue of $2.90 billion. Analysts had expected earnings of $3.03 per share on revenue of $2.98 billion. LinkedIn shares dipped 25.59 percent to $187.62 in the after-hours trading session.