LinkedIn Keeps Rising

LinkedIn

has retained its niche profile in the face of intense competition from Facebook. The world's biggest professional social networking website this week shot up to its highest price since it made its market debut. LNKD reported 1Q sales that beat analyst expectations, advancing 8.9% to $118.88 on Friday morning in pre-market trading. It is an achievement for the company that, while they might deny it, is in competition with Facebook. The number of people who maintain more than one profile is always going to be limited. Still, by selling itself as a professional network, a business tool, LinkedIn has done much to work its way out of that hole. The company reported that membership increased to 161 million from 150 million in 4Q. That's impressive, no matter how you look at it. Sales doubled to $188.5 million, beating the $178.4 million analyst average. As for the profit, that went up to $5 million, or 4 cents per share, from $2.08 million the previous year. Revenue for 2Q is expected to be $210 million to $215 million.