LinkedIn Corp.'s shares dropped by as much as 27 percent on Thursday, after the professional networking Internet company reported quarterly revenue that missed analysts' estimates for the first time.
LinkedIn Corp. cited the strong U.S. dollar and slower-than-predicted growth as it forecasted lower than projected sales for the second quarter, and slashed its guidance for annual revenue.
Paul Sweeney, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence said this is an extraordinary miss for a company that has mostly avoided any major blowups since going public.
LinkedIn went public in 2011 and has steadily exceeded sales estimates until now. Under Chief Executive Officer Jeff Weiner, the company has been consistently updating its offerings every year. This includes a mix of job-related tools for both businesses and consumers that Sweeney said are not yielding as much revenue as expected.
At the same time, the company cited the delay in recognizing lynda.com's contribution for the drop. Lynda.com is an online education company that LinkedIn has agreed to buy for $1.5 billion. The company says the delay is because the two companies are still finalizing and completing the integration. According to Reuters, Chief Financial Officer Steve Sordello said he expects revenue contribution from the acquisition to normalize in the second half of 2016.
LinkedIn's hiring business, Talent Solutions, which saw revenue growth for the first quarter also slowed to 36 percent. Talent Solutions accounts for approximately 62 percent of total revenue.
The company predicted second quarter revenue of around $670 - $675 million, but analysts had predicted the numbers to be at $718.3, on average, based on data compiled by Bloomberg. LinkedIn also trimmed its annual revenue forecast to $2.9 billion from $2.93 to $2.95 billion. The company forecasted a 2015 profit of $1.90 per share, excluding items on revenue of around $2.90 billion. Previously, the company forecasted earnings of $2.95 per share on revenue of $2.93 to $2.95 billion.
