TMCnet Feature

LinkedIn (News - Alert) stock increased this week after the company reported increased revenue and net income for the fourth quarter. Shares of the company jumped 11 percent to $84.54 as of 9:38 a.m. on Friday, according to news reports.

Despite competition in the social media sector – such as from Facebook (News - Alert) – LinkedIn reported that quarterly sales came in at more than double during the 4Q, and the company predicts increased revenue during 2012. It will be helped out by increased subscriptions and ads, according to Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

All this is despite the fact that BranchOut, a startup, is trying to develop its own professional network on Facebook which could rival LinkedIn, Bloomberg (News - Alert) said.

Specifically, LinkedIn saw 4Q revenue coming in at $167.7 million, which translates to a jump of 105 percent in contrast to the $81.7 million in revenue the company saw during the 4Q in 2010. Revenue from the company’s hiring solutions unit more than doubled during the 4Q, coming in at $84.9 million, Bloomberg adds. LinkedIn during the 4Q was expected to see revenue of $159.8 million based on an average from analysts cited by Bloomberg.

In addition, the company reported that its 4Q net income was $6.9 million, while net income during the 4Q of the prior year was $5.3 million. Non-GAAP net income for the 4Q was $13.3 million, contrasted to $5.2 million for the 4Q of 2010.

“Q4 once again exceeded our expectations for member engagement and business growth,” commented Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn, in a company statement accompanying 4Q results. “It was a fitting end to a memorable year in which we reinforced our position as the pre-eminent professional network on the web. We believe continued focus on our members and technology infrastructure positions us well for accelerated product innovation in 2012.”

The most recent quarter was the sixth straight quarter of more than 100 percent year-over-year growth, the company said. “LinkedIn grew over 100 percent for the sixth consecutive quarter and posted all-time high adjusted EBITDA,” Steve Sordello, CFO of LinkedIn, commented on the results in the company statement.  “Our fourth quarter results underscore the company’s success in 2011, which saw revenue and adjusted EBITDA more than double.  In 2012, we will continue to invest in our product, engineering, and sales infrastructure to capitalize on our long-term opportunity.”

When looking at the full 2011 year, LinkedIn revenue jumped 115 percent to $522.2 million from $243.1 million. 

In a related matter, LinkedIn recently finished a phase of the re-architecture of InVersion. Also, LinkedIn recently added three global offices: Tokyo, Japan; Bangalore, India; and Sao Paulo, Brazil. Content is now being offered in five additional languages: Japanese, Swedish, Indonesian, Malay and Korean. In addition, a new solution now being tested is called “Talent Pipeline,” which lets recruiters and hiring managers “manage, track, and stay in touch with active and passive candidates, regardless of source,” the company said.

The company also announced that revenue for the 1Q of 2012 is predicted to be somewhere between of $170 million and $175 million. Analysts had predicted $170.5 million as an average for the 1Q, Bloomberg said. In addition, LinkedIn is projecting adjusted EBITDA of $25 million to $27 million during the 1Q. Looking at 2012, revenue for the full year is predicted to be between $840 million and $860 million.

LinkedIn was founded in December 2002 and was launched in May 2003 for professional networking, according to TMCnet. It now has over 150 million members, according to the company press release. It had 131.2 million members during the third quarter, reports Bloomberg. Subscribers come from over 200 countries and territories, the company adds.