Goldman Meets With LinkedIn Exec, Still Thinks Stock Will Double

• LinkedIn Corp LNKD shares have lost 53 percent since January 11.
• Goldman Sachs’ Heath P. Terry maintained a Buy rated for the company, with a price target of $200.
• Terry mentioned the key takeaways from the Goldman Sachs Technology & Internet Conference.

CFO Steve Sordello indicated that management was surprised by the market’s reaction to the company’s 4Q results, while pointing out “the lack of fundamental change in the business in 4Q with the exception of the Bizo exit and a small shift in macro sentiment.”

Mr. Sordello further noted that there had been some weakness in EMEA and APAC exiting 2015 and into 2016, resulting in the more cautious guidance.

Learning and Development. LinkedIn has plans of going to market with a broad enterprise solution from Lynda in 2016. This would be focused on addressing skill development. “Mr. Sordello sees the category as a natural extension of Talent Solutions within its customer base of HR professionals,” analyst Heath Terry wrote.

Mr. Sordello continues to view Sales Navigator as a significant opportunity for LinkedIn, despite the higher-than-expected churn rates. LinkedIn aims at product enhancements to “better serve segments like SMB, for which the product has not been optimized,” Terry said.

Initial signs indicate that the relaunch of LinkedIn’s flagship app has boosted user engagement, including driving traffic on the desktop site. Content remains a significant part of the company’s engagement strategy, given the success witnessed so far.

“LinkedIn will invest in back-end systems in 2016, including repurposing the technology behind Bizo. Engagement metrics are likely to drive acceleration in Marketing Solutions ex-Bizo,” the analyst mentioned.