LinkedIn Jumps After Q2 Results; Raises Guidance

The social-networking sector got a much needed boost on Thursday after LinkedIn

raised its full-year revenue guidance. In after hours trading, the stock, which has been a bright spot in the sector, rose around 5 percent to $98.00. The company reported net income for the second-quarter of $2.8 million or $0.03 per share, compared to $4.5 million or $0.04 per share, in the year ago period. On an adjusted basis, net income was $18.1 million or $0.16 per share, versus $10.8 million or $0.10 per share, in last year's corresponding period. This was in-line with the Wall Street consensus EPS estimate of $0.16. Revenues in the period were $228.21 million, compared to $121.04 million last year. This exceeded analysts' consensus revenue estimate of $215.73 million. Looking ahead to the third-quarter, LinkedIn said that it expects to report revenues between $235 million to $240 million. This compared to the analyst consensus estimate of $235.20 million. For fiscal 2012, the company said it expects revenues between $915 million and $925 million. This compared to its prior guidance range of $880 million to $900 million. Before Thursday's earnings release, Wall Street was projecting that LinkedIn would report full-year revenues of $908.39 million.