LinkedIn Reports Soaring Revenue & SlideShare Acquisition
LinkedIn reports its seventh straight quarter of more than doubling its earnings.
Never mind that other social network in the news. LinkedIn had its own noteworthy announcements—two of them, in fact.
On the same day that the company blew past investors’ expectations for quarterly earnings, LinkedIn announced it’s acquiring the start-up SlideShare for $119 million.
First, the financials. LinkedIn, which has been publicly traded since May 2011, reported $188.5 million in revenue and $5 million in profit—its seventh straight quarter of more than 100% growth year-over-year. Revenue and profit in Q1 2011 were $93.9 million and $2.1 million, respectively. The company saw a surge in revenue from its hiring and marketing solutions products, as well as an increase in premium service subscribers.
It’s worth noting that when Facebook reported its own Q1 financials last week in preparation to go public, the company reported a 45% rise in revenue to $1.06 billion but a 12% decline in profit to $205 million compared to the Q1 2011.
LinkedIn’s strong financials set the stage for its next strategic move: adding a presentation-sharing app and productivity tool that’s likely already being used by the 161 million professionals on the site. SlideShare itself boasts 29 million unique visitors and hosts 9 million presentations online.
“Presentations are a core component of how professionals define and brand their identity,” LinkedIn’s SVP of Products and User Experience Deep Nishar wrote on the company’s blog. “This deal enables professionals discover people through content, and content through people. We’re excited to figure out the best ways our offerings will work together to help professionals around the world be more productive and successful.”
LinkedIn’s shares were up almost 8% in after-hours trading.—Maeghan Ouimet
Photo courtesy of smi23le
